BREEDING EFFORTS RELATED to fibre content of flax and hemp are going in separate directions, and hemp breeding for fibre may take an interesting turn. First, an update on flax, which is grown by Canadian farmers because it provides a decent profit and because its inclusion in the rotation also offers control of disease and insect populations that commonly afflict other oilseed crops (and cereals): acreage on the Canadian Prairies varies from 400,000 to 800,000 hectares or one to two million acres. “There are three oilseed flax varieties commonly grown in Canada, all medium- tall with most offshoots at the top, and all do well under our growing conditions,” says Dr. Helen Booker, an associate pro- fessor and flax breeder at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. “CDC Bethune was registered in 1998 and it’s still popu- lar. CDC Sorell was registered in 2005, and the newest variety is CDC Glas, first avail- able in 2014.” These cultivars respectively made up 25, 21 and 17 per cent of the total acreage in 2017, respectively. However, many farmers are hesitant to grow flax because the straw is trouble- some. It’s not easy to chop and spread it and it decomposes very slowly. The straw can be burned or baled and sold, but buyers need bales to be clean of debris. According to the new Flax Grower’s Guide produced by the Flax Council of Canada and its partners, Schweitzer- Mauduit Canada of Winkler, Man. is the largest Canadian flax straw processor. Smaller buyers/processors include Biolin Processing near Elstow, Sask., a pilot facility operated by Innotech Alberta in Vegreville, Alta., Synermulch in Calgary, Erosion Control Blanket in Riverton, BREEDINGFORFIBREINFLAX ANDHEMPISFOLLOWING TWOUNIQUEPATHWAYS There have never been more uses for flax straw, while breeding goals with regard to fibre are currently very different for hemp. Treena Hein Man. and Urban Forest Recyclers in Swift Current, Sask. Indeed, there have never been more uses for flax straw. “Flax straw is being used for animal bedding, duck nesting, linage for drainage ditches and construc- tion of straw bale buildings, windbreaks and other shelters,” Booker says. “The bales are also burned to provide heat and the straw is used to cover golf course greens, insulate in trailer homes, make mulch for pathways, and to make cigarette papers, bio-fuel, composites and textiles.” However, Booker says a recent survey done by the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission (SaskFlax) confirmed that many farmers are just not interested in growing flax because of the straw management issues. SaskFlax has approached Booker to look into the possi- bility of developing a variety with reduced straw strength (thereby reducing bast fibre content). “It would be preferable to have a market for the straw, but if that’s not in the cards, then the next step is to mini- mize the burden of managing the straw,” Booker explains. However, she notes that development of a variety that still includes the needed agronomic qualities but has less straw strength is a large undertak- ing. For starters, it would involve working with a breeding company in France to measure differences in straw strength of various varieties. “The differences may be subtle,” Booker explains. “We also must look at how straw strength is related to agronomic traits like lodging resistance — we can’t reduce straw strength too much. We also have to see how much straw strength differences are due to growing conditions year to year. There is also the 62 GERMINATION.CA JANUARY 2019 caption