2009 Flax Crop

This year we seeded 80 acres of flax on lentils stubble, fertilizing with a high level of phosphorous. It was a difficult spring. Cool soil temperature forced late seeding and there was very little moisture for the shallow seed. Round-up (provided by Monsanto) was used for initial weed burn-off, but very few weeds had emerged by that point. In-crop spray (provided by Greenfields) was applied later which helped control wild oats. We received good rain starting in late June. Although the crop was significantly set back, the June and July rains helped significantly. Weed control was reasonably successful, although there were some areas with wild oat and volunteer oats. Grasshoppers were also a concern, but were controlled thanks to the assistance of Curtis Jensen. Both crop insurance and hail insurance were taken for the crop, with additional hail insurance contributed by McQueen Agencies. Swathing began September 15th but a major drive shaft on the swather broke. Sparks Farms came to the rescue by contributing all the swathing. We had hoped to begin combining around September 25th, but rain delayed us until October 30. Even then the crop was not dry enough and we had to cut the teeth out of the pickup auger of one combine to stop the flax straw from back feeding. Neighbor Bill Lees helped speed harvest by running one combine. We also ran fans in the granary to help dry the crop. The price of flax recently plummeted to half its recent value, however Western Grain Trade generously provided a subsidized contract of over $9.00 FOB.