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Flax

File photo of a flax field in Russia. (Ukususha/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops, Markets

Price drop not enough to lift demand for Canadian flax

Russia, Kazakhstan competitive in export markets

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MarketsFarm — While flax prices in Western Canada have fallen by at least half from what they were one year ago, they are still too high to be competitive on a global level, according to one flax processor. Mike Popowich, owner and vice-president of TA Foods Ltd. at Yorkton, Sask., said demand for the crop […] Read more
Dry alfalfa and straw bales are loaded into the Kuhn Side Slinger manure spreader, which doubles as a mixer wagon. The hay and straw will serve as biomass for the compost.
Features, News

Build your own bioreactor

Regenerative Ag: A farmer puts his homegrown biological fertilizer to work in his fields to improve soil health and crop quality and save on input costs

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Former Saskatchewan farmer Franck Groeneweg will be heading out to his Montana grain fields this spring to apply a biological fertilizer made on his farm. Over the past three growing seasons, it appears this liquid compost extract helps to maintain crop yields while making it possible for him to significantly reduce chemical fertilizer rates. It […] Read more
Alumni of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers program Ian (left) and Karilynn (middle) Marshall of Bowden, Alta., receive the W.R. Motherwell Award from COYF president, Danny Penner (right), at the COYF national award ceremony in November.
Features, News

Outstanding Young Farmers Awards go to Saskatchewan and Quebec

Organic farming receives national recognition

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Cody Straza and Allison Squires say developing an organic mixed farming operation in southern Saskatchewan over the past dozen years was a reflection of their values in terms of creating a sustainable farm operation guided by proper environmental stewardship and social justice principles. Winning a national award recognizing excellence in farm management gave them reassurance […] Read more
Bushel price for flax remains higher than canola, moving in one instance to a 40-dollar high. Present prices now remain in the $20- to $25-per-bushel range.
Columns, Crops

In praise of flax

Flaxseed prices compete well with canola and growing flax provides an additional rotational crop

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When I moved west to the Prairies many moons ago, golden canola fields were the Cinderella crop and flax made up reliable blue oilseed acres. Prairie canola now exceeds 20 million acres, whereas flax, primarily grown in Saskatchewan, hovers at around one million acres (400,000 hectares). While canola yields have moved from the low 20 […] Read more
The Resilient Rotations trial site in Lethbridge, Alta., is seen here on July 15, 2021, during extremely dry conditions. Lethbridge received 4.4 inches of precipitation during the 2021 growing season.
Features

Resilient rotations

Researchers focus on precipitation use efficiency as a way to assess crop rotations

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While extreme heat and drought made life miserable for farmers in many parts of the Prairies the past few summers, those conditions proved to be something of a silver lining for a group of researchers leading a project called Resilient Rotations. A key area of the study, which aims to develop a new approach to […] Read more
A view of a crop rotation treatment tested in Melfort, Sask., in July 2022 as part of the Resilient Rotations crop rotations project. Melfort is part of the project’s northern Prairies region.
Crops, Features

A new approach provides evidence to support the benefits of diversified rotations

A five-year study provides science-based, region-specific information on cropping systems

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A new study being conducted in Western Canada could soon provide growers with valuable insights on how to achieve more productive, sustainable and resilient cropping systems. Resilient Rotations is a comprehensive research project that aims to develop a new approach to crop rotations. The five-year study is being managed as part of the Integrated Crop […] Read more
(Flax Council of Canada photo)
Crops

Flax Council of Canada seeks new chief

Wayne Thompson moving to WGRF

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Canada’s national market development organization for flax and flax products is officially in the market for a chief executive. The Flax Council of Canada said Tuesday its search for a new president is underway, after Wayne Thompson announced in August he has left the position to become executive director of the Western Grains Research Foundation […] Read more
(Dave Bedard photo)
Crops

SaskCanola, SaskFlax merge offices, management

Groups will maintain separate governing boards, levies

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Sasskatchewan’s canola and flax development commissions are consolidating their management, staff and office space under one roof. SaskCanola and SaskFlax said Wednesday their new “management collaboration” will translate to efficiencies for both commissions with “a full staff complement to support both boards.” Both organizations will now operate out of the current SaskCanola office at Innovation […] Read more
While there is a lot of interest in camelina production for the biofuel industry, processors have shown it is not a one-trick oilseed.
Crops

Camelina poised for a comeback

Demand from the renewable fuel industry is one of many reasons to grow camelina this year and in the future

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As western Canadian farmers consider cropping plans for 2023, they may want to give some thought to growing camelina. It is a crop name from the past that is making a comeback and by all accounts there is strong market demand. Camelina was somewhat of a flash in the pan 15 or more years ago, […] Read more
(Dave Bedard photo)
Crops, Markets

AAFC raises canola stocks projection, despite smaller crop

Department also trims wheat ending stocks

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MarketsFarm — Canadian canola ending stocks for 2022-23 were revised higher by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in its latest supply/demand estimates, released Friday. The larger carryout projection came despite a downward revision to production, as both exports and domestic usage were also down from the November report. The government agency now sees canola carryout of […] Read more

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