Best Management Practices-flax demonstration
Manitoba Diversification Centres – Melita, Arborg, Roblin and Carberry
To provide a backdrop for field day extension on best management practices for successful flax
production.
Seeding dates differed between sites with Melita seeding all demonstration plots by May 21 while Arborg seeded the last treatment on June 4 (Table 7b). At Arborg, plant density in BMP farmer plots was 323 ppms while the Improving and Historic farmer plots had 332 and 346 ppms, respectively. At Melita, plant density was 500 ppms in BMP farmer plots seeded on 6 May while the Improving farmer, seeded on 13 May, and Historic farmer, seeded on 21 May, had 474 and 248 ppms, respectively. Differences between the two sites could be explained by timing of seeding as well as differences in agro-ecological zones. 33 Plant height at flowering was 47, 50 and 53 cm for BMP, Improving and Historic farmer plots at Arborg, respectively. This parameter was not measured at Melita. At Arborg, the expectation was that the early seeded demonstration plots would but that was not the case, probably due to unfavorable soil conditions at seeding. Days to reach physiological maturity differed between sites. Although Historic farmer plots were the last to be seeded at Arborg, they required fewer days (84) to reach maturity compared to Improving and BMP farmer plots, which required 92 and 96 days, respectively. On the contrary, Improving farmer plots required 99 days while BMP and Historic farmer plots required 94 and 97 days to reach maturity at Melita, respectively. There were no observed differences in lodging among flax management systems and between the two sites.
At both sites, BMP farmer plots recorded more grain yield compared to Historic and Improving farmer plots. The highest yield was 38 bu ac-1 for BMP while the lowest was 14 bu ac-1 at Melita. At Arborg, grain yield ranged from 27 to 34 bu ac-1. Based on the results from this demonstration trial, Historic farmer practice appear not to be a viable option as a management strategy for flax production as it results in significantly low grain yield as observed at Melita. It would be best for flax producers to consider BMP farmer practice, which involves application of nutrients based on soil tests, early seeding date to maximize on growing season length and effective control of weeds, disease and insect pests, which is all based on scouting.
Flax (Linum usitatissimum) production was introduced in the northern U.S. and Canada around 1800. Two types of flax that are grown include fiber flax grown especially in Europe for the fiber in its stem, and seed flax grown for the oil in its seed and nutritional value for humans and livestock (NDSU, 2007). In Canada, the majority of producers grow seed flax for processing into linseed industrial oil and linseed meal that is fed to livestock. In order to achieve higher yields and sustainable flax production, producers need to implement best flax management practices.