SASKATOON – A group of Saskatchewan farmers has joined forces with Cargill Ltd. in a effort to find new markets for flax straw.
“We’re all very excited,” said Michael Yaholnitsky of Sask-Can Fibre Inc., a farmer-owned co-operative that has been in the business of buying and selling flax straw for two years.
The area around Canora, just north of Yorkton, is a natural flax-growing area and figuring out what to do with the straw has always been a problem, he said.
“Potentially this product has some tremendous value,” he said, adding Cargill will be able to use its marketing expertise and international connections to search out those markets.
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The two companies will be equal shareholders in a new firm called Durafibre Inc. A pilot plant will be set up at Canora, Sask., this spring to process flax fibre using a new technology developed at the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute.
The products will be test-marketed to a variety of industrial fibre users, including pulp and paper companies and non-woven textile manufacturers.
Cargill spokesperson Barb Isman said the company is confident the markets are there because of the increasing trend among companies to make more use of biodegradable, natural ingredients in their products: “We think it has the potential to be a heck of a good business.”
The big question to be answered during the two-year pilot project is whether the new technology can produce an acceptable quality of fibre from Canadian-style flax.
The flaxseed grown in North America has been bred for its seed production and its short straw doesn’t lend itself to fibre production compared with varieties grown in Europe specifically for linen production.
More than 200 farmers have been delivering their flax straw to Sask-Can Fibre since the fall of 1991.
