The only flax to come off prairie fields so far this harvest has been in eastern Manitoba.
Paul Martens, flax co-ordinator with Prairie Flax Products in Portage la Prairie, Man., said the rest of the Prairies continues to be too wet.
“If the weather was to smarten up in Saskatchewan, they could probably start doing some flax because there is some that is ready to go,” Martens said.“They just can’t get into the field.”
Martens said the quality of the crop has been good in Manitoba, but he expects to see some poorer samples across the rest of the Prairies, in particular Saskatchewan.
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“They’ve had some issues with late seeding, and in the Melville area they’ve had some significant frost which could hurt the quality,” he said. “If you have any immature green kernels, it will really affect the quality, thus affecting the price.”
Speaking of the price, Martens said the cash market has been fairly strong of late for a number of reasons.
“We had less acres go into start with, then you have all the rain and flooding, so even the acres that got in the ground have been cut down by the weather,” Martens said. “We’ve had a bit a disease problem which will cut down on the yield. We’ve had some weed issues as well.”
While prices have been strong, Martens said the large carryover of flax from last year could very easily put a lid on how high prices go.
“Once we get into harvest across the Prairies, the yields could have an effect on it as well,” he said.
Martens said if they were to receive any Triffid-free samples, Europeans would be very interested in buying flax.
Elevator deliveries for flaxseed were bringing as much as $12.48 per bushel in Manitoba, $12.02 per bushel in Saskatchewan, and $12.22 per bushel in Alberta, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. Those prices range from $3.48 to $5.19 per bushel higher from one year ago. Prices have been mixed across the Prairies over the past week, with Alberta’s up $0.38 per bushel, while Manitoba and Saskatchewan’s have dropped by $0.03 and $0.07 per bushel respectively.
