Broadleaf Crops
Flax
The 64th Flax Institute Set for March 29-30, 2012
The 64th Flax Institute will take place on Thursday and Friday March 29-30, 2012, at the Doublewood Inn in Fargo, ND.
North Dakota State University has been the lead University in organizing the bi-annual Flax Institute. The aim of the Flax Institute is to bring national and international researchers with an interest in flax together to share and learn about flax research. Over twenty presentations will be given by researchers from Canada, China, Pennsylvania, South and North Dakota. A tour, poster session, exhibits and dinner provide added learning and networking opportunities. The topics covered during the event range from breeding flax, agricultural production issues of flax, use of flax in food products, using flax fibers for industrial purposes, and human health effects of consumption of flax. Those interested in scientific presentations are encouraged to attend the Institute’s meeting. Registration for the event will start at 7:30 a.m. and the program starts at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, March 29. On Friday, March 30, the program will run from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Hans Kandel, NDSU broadleaf agronomist and president of the flax institute invites participants to informally share about their interest in flax during the dinner on Thursday evening, which is part of the program. The Institute will conclude with a short business meeting after lunch on Friday. Vice president of the 64th Flax Institute, Cliff Hall, will provide a tour of the NDSU food science laboratory and talk about flax food research taking place at NDSU.
In 2011 a total of 196,000 acres of flax were harvested in North Dakota, which is 87.5% of all the acres planted in the United States. Flax has gained popularity as a food source because of its beneficial characteristics.
There is a registration fee of $125 for the event to cover the breaks, lunch, dinner, and the scientific proceedings of the event. Registration can be done on-line via http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/flaxinst/register or contact Lisa at the NDSU Plant Sciences Department at 701-231-7122.
Flax Variety Information
This flax variety performance results for 2011 reports results from the various North Dakota State University Research Extension Centers. The relative performance of the varieties is presented in table format. Give special attention to yield results of those trials nearest to your production area when evaluating varieties in these trials. Also, attempt to view yield averages of several years rather than using only one year’s data as a determining factor. In addition, also consider other agronomic characteristics, such as maturity, lodging score and oil percentages, if available.
The agronomic data presented are from replicated research plots using experimental designs that enable the use of statistical analysis. The LSD (Least Significant Difference) numbers beneath the columns in tables are derived from the statistical analyses and only apply to the numbers in the column in which they appear. If the difference between two varieties exceeds the LSD value, it means that with 95 percent probability the higher-yielding variety has a significant yield advantage. If the difference between two varieties is less than the LSD value, then the variety yields are considered similar. NS is used to indicate no significant difference for that trait among any of the varieties. The CV is a measure of variability in the trial. The CV stands for coefficient of variation and is expressed as a percentage. Large CVs mean a large amount of variation that could not be attributed to differences in the varieties. In the tables, the mean indicates the average of the observations in the column. Only compare values within the table and look for trends for the desired trait among different experimental sites and years.
Oil content and harvested seed yield were adjusted to 9 percent moisture.
CDC Triffid Flax
The Canadian flax variety ‘CDC Triffid’ was genetically modified (GM) to be resistant to herbicides containing sulfonylurea. It was developed by the University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre. The variety was registered with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in the mid-1990s. But European customers, who buy 60 percent of Canada's flax, indicated that they did not want to buy any GM flax. Canadian flax farmers and producer groups, afraid the Europeans would label all Canadian flax as contaminated, pushed for the elimination of CDC Triffid. The variety was subsequently deregistered in the spring of 2001. The flax variety was never grown commercially, but roughly 40 farmers from across the Canadian Prairies were multiplying seed in anticipation of future demand for the variety. After deregulation of the variety around 200,000 bushels of CDC Triffid flax seed was collected from farms across the Canadian Prairies and the flax was crushed.On September 10th 2009 the European Union Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed reported finding the unapproved genetically modified flax variety (CDC Triffid) in food products in Germany. Further testing since that time has found the unapproved gene in other flax products and/or unprocessed flax seed.
The flax variety CDC Triffid (FP967 ), is not authorized for food or feed use in the European Union. The consequence is that any food product or flax seed which is tested and is found to be positive for FP967 cannot be marketed in the European Union and there is zero tolerance. Even if a very low level of contamination is detected, the product is not acceptable in Europe. The CDC Triffid GM issue is mainly of importance if flax seed will be exported to Europe. It is additionally important in organic production systems in the US, which also have a zero tolerance regarding GM flax.
There is a genetic test available with a construct-specific method for detection of FP967. The testing method is accredited and fully validated and is available and used by a number of testing labs both in Europe and North America. The test for the genetic modification of CDC Triffid flax was developed by Genetic ID Laboratories in USA and Europe.
The recommended option for Canadian producers to minimize risk of growing flax contaminated with Triffid is the planting of seed that has been tested for Triffid and shown to be negative. However, as not all seeds are tested, there is a chance that contamination is not detected.
If US producers are concerned about seed contaminated with the European unapproved GM trait, they could test their seed source, but this is fairly expensive.
More information about CDC Triffid flax and testing labs can be found on the Flax Council of Canada website.
