A new transgenic flax that shares a name with a fictional carnivorous plant from outer space has taken a bite from seed growers’ wallets and spit out their hopes of selling seed to farmers this spring.
But the industry believes if farmers grew CDC Triffid this spring, the crop would have killed exports to Canada’s most important flax market.
The European Union has not yet approved transgenic flax. So on Jan. 29, flax industry leaders made the final decision to banish Triffid from the commercial system until EU approvals come through.
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Robert Small had 4,000 bushels of the “beautiful-looking” certified flax seed in his bins at Agritel Grain Ltd. in Beausejour, Man.
He was looking forward to strong sales this spring as farmers prepare to plant what some analysts think could be a huge crop of flax.
Instead, Small sold it to a crusher.
“It’s registered in Canada, but we didn’t want to be the ones to ruin the flax industry in Western Canada,” explained Small.
“You win some, you lose some in this seed business. As seed growers, that’s how you look at it.”
More than 80 percent of Canada’s flax is exported, said Donald Frith, president of the Flax Council of Canada. More than 65 percent of those exports go to Europe.
Losing that market could push down flax prices to $4 per bushel from current highs around $10 per bushel, he said.
Headed off conflict
“We compliment the flax industry for taking a potentially disastrous scenario and pitching in together to negate any problems,” said Frith.
Small is one of 65 to 70 growers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta who had almost 4,000 tonnes of foundation, select and certified Triffid seed in bins and bags on their farms.
Value-Added Seeds, the company owned by pedigreed seed growers that owns the marketing rights to Triffid, also lost money on the crop, said president John Allen.
“To the company, it has meant that we’ve had what would otherwise be an income stream that has turned into an expense stream instead,” said Allen.
Small said he’s disappointed, but realizes Triffid’s time has not yet come.
“At the end of the day, (growers) have understood that it doesn’t make any sense to bite the hand that feeds you,” said Allen.
