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Growing the Flax Crop Phase 1
The first phase of growing a flax
crop has been completed and as promised we are bringing
you this information to help you understand more about
what is involved. Our farm is a small operation and not
one of today’s mega farms. Our equipment is obsolete by
today’s standards yet is more than sufficient for our
needs.
On May 22
(2008) we seeded golden
flaxseed on our field of approximately 170 acres which
is located adjacent to the south shore of Stuart Lake
near Riding Mountain National Park. The field was
cultivated a few days earlier to prepare the soil for
seeding. More modern equipment combines both cultivating
and seeding operations in one pass. The pictures show
Stuart Lake in the back ground and are taken from the
top of a hill approximately 130’ in elevation above the
lake water level. Note that the trees are still without
leaves for the most part.
As the pictures show, the seeder is
basically a seed box and a series of disc openers spaced
some 6” apart. Seeds are metered into the disc openers
at a preset rate in order to achieve even seed coverage
across the entire field. Our seeding rate was just over
31 pounds of seed per acre or some 2.7 million seeds per
acre. This works out to about 60 seeds per square foot
(645 seeds per square m) planted at a depth of about 1”
(2.5 cm).
It has been dry so far this spring
but the soil contains adequate moisture for seed
germination and emergence. Seeding conditions were
ideal. Now we wait and hope – that the crop will emerge
evenly – that the plants will be vigorous and healthy –
that ultimately growing conditions will be favorable to
yield a good harvest in about 100 days or so. Stay in
touch for the next phase. |
