thinking that we need to improve quality of the straw through management, for example minimizing damage to the straw by cutting or stripping only heads off plants, mowing or rolling standing straw after the seed is har- vested, and allowing retting and use a V-rake to rake straw in windrows and balers to make large round bales of straw.” Booker says there have been similar flax breeding projects in the past, and that “we’ll see what happens this time.” Hemp Goes its Own Way Breeding goals with regard to fibre are currently very different for hemp, notes Jan Slaski, the team lead of crop development and management at Innotech Alberta who has expertise with hemp going back to its introduction in Canada. Slaski says that up until a year ago, most hemp in Canada was grown for oilseed, but demand is now grow- ing for the fibre and another emerging cutting-edge use. “In 2017, there were 55,000 hectares licenced in Canada, which is a staggering increase of more than 20,000 acres over 2016,” Slaski notes. “What’s bringing in the new growers is a really good profit, way better than other crops. And part of that is because we have a grow- ing fibre market now.” Indeed, the long-fibre material found on the outside of the stalks is now in demand for textiles, paper, bio-com- posites and more. “Seven years ago here in Vegreville,” says Slaski, “three provincial ministries built a pilot-scale fibre processing/separation plant so that companies could use it for experimentation and to develop the market, and that’s been a success.” The plant is being used by three companies: Biocomposite Group (manufacturer of mats for erosion control and car parts); Just Biofibre (building materials); and Hempco (investigating uses). Slaski says it’s expected that one or more of these firms will build a commercial- scale hemp fibre separator facility in the near future. Most of the Canadian acreage has early-maturing oil- seed varieties with shorter stalks, but increasingly, farm- ers are planting dual-purpose types. Of the 46 varieties approved in Canada, about 16 oilseed ones (with typically eight to 15 per cent long fibre) and five dual-purpose (20 to 25 per cent long fibre) are grown. Slaski says the grower’s guide produced by the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance has been helpful in showing growers how to protect the moving parts in a combine from stalk binding. Hemp pith fibre (also called hurd or core fibre) does not cause wrapping issues and has different properties. Because it’s super absorbent and dustless, it’s being used in making bio-building materials such as ‘hempcrete,’ bedding for racing horses and other livestock, and as a growth medium for mushroom farming. Another emerging market for hemp has nothing at all to do with fibre. The flowers contain non-psychoactive cannabinoids, which are now being avidly researched. JANUARY 2019 GERMINATION.CA 63 flaxcouncil.ca/growing-flax/ hemptrade.ca/eguide NON-PSYCHOACTIVECANNABINOIDS SHOWPROMISE With the opioid crisis still raging in parts of Canada and the U.S., interest in non-addictive and safe painkillers is strong. Non- psychoactive cannabinoids found in hemp, for example, are being studied at the University of Arizona for pain relief in women with metastatic breast cancer. The scientists at this institution have also found that the particular cannabinoid being studied inhibits bone loss (which has been shown to be enhanced with sustained opioid use) and slows the proliferation of metastatic breast cancer. In the same article, University of Alberta communications staff member Robin Tricoles also notes studies by other researchers are investigating the ability of some cannabinoids to slow the spread of brain and colon cancer. FLAXORIGINSGOWAYBACK A Grower’s Guide for Flax (flaxcouncil.ca/growing-flax/) produced by the Flax Council of Canada and partners, states that flax is believed to have originated in the Middle East or Indian regions dating back to 7,000 BC. The guide states that: -  Flax was one of the first crops brought to Canada, with first planting around 1617 at the site of the old courthouse in Quebec City. -  Early breeding efforts date back to 1888 when the Experimental Farms Branch of the Canada Department of Agriculture was established. - Flax was among the first crops planted in Western Canada. Jan Slaski says farmers are increasingly planting dual-purpose types of hemp.