By Alice McFarlane

Optimism in flax industry despite recent plights

Jan 31, 2019 | 9:28 AM

The flax industry has had some tough years.

Dry conditions in the southern part of the province put pressure on production and the sector is still recovering from the Triffid issue, which saw Canadian flax seed shut out of its largest markets after traces of the genetically modified form of the crop were found in shipments.

Despite, the executive director of the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission (SaskFlax) is still optimistic about the future of the crop.

Wayne Thompson said the consumer side of the flax industry has a lot of potential as they continue to emphasize that Canadian food grade flax is safe and healthy.

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“There’s probably not a consumer that isn’t becoming more concerned about their own health from a food perspective and what they’re eating,” Thompson said. “Flax has a lot of health benefits that have been proven through our health claim that was approved a few years ago. We continue to develop those marketing messages. “

One of the biggest challenges growing flax is managing the straw.

“Rather than burning (the straw), which is quite common, farmers want to find a way to manage that residue in the fall and not have to worry about it when it comes to spring planting.”

SaskFlax has an open call for research proposals asking for any and all ideas.

“We’re interested in anything for that perspective. It could be varietal. The genetics of the plant are very complicated and maybe there is someone who has a good idea on what kind of research project we could look at from a genetic point of view. It’s a combination of the genetics and the agronomy.”

Agriculture Canada is projecting a 15 per cent increase in flax area this spring, but market analyst Chuck Penner with Leftfield Commodity Research is only projecting a small bump.

“Our carryover for previous years has continued to shrink so we have gradually tightening supplies. That should be positive for prices, but prices have largely been going sideways somewhere between $12.50 and $13.00 a bushel,” Penner said. “The difficulty with flax is that we’ve had very, very large increases in Russian, but more so Kazakhstan flax. They’ve been taking more of the export market away from us so that’s been a bit of challenge. We’ve got strong demand from the U.S. and steady demand from China. There is a little bit more competition out there now.”

Thompson is hopeful more Saskatchewan farmers will grow flax this year.

“Some years I’m a little disappointed, but with flax prices being relatively stable and looking comparable to other crops, canola, wheat and pulses, and with rotations, we expect flax acres are going to rise a little bit. With the demand growing, it’s something I hope that farmers, will keep in mind as part of their crop rotation.”