Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission

Roles and Responsibilities

SaskFlax is responsible to approximately 16,000 Saskatchewan flax producers. The organization collects a refundable check-off from producers and performs research and development intended to increase consumption, create more quality products and provide greater net returns to producers.

Membership

Membership in SaskFlax is not mandatory, but as a member, there are benefits, including continued industry research and a strong industry voice that fights for issues important to flax producers.

Important Issues

Recognition of flax as a food and feed ingredient.
Flax fiber industry

How The Commission works

SaskFlax is funded by a $1.18 per tonne check-off on all flaxseed and $0.50 per tonne check-off on all flax straw. From the funds raised, the commission performs research and development activities intended to reduce costs of production, increase product demand and ultimately increase producer profit.

Publications:

Flax Diagnostic Guide
Flax Recipe Books

Industry facts

16,000 producers
$157 million in industry revenue in 2004
1.58 million acres harvested in 2005
2005 average yield: 22.0 bu/ac
Saskatchewan produced approximately 69% of Canadian production

How to Contact Us

Sask Flax
A5A – 116 – 103^rd Street East
Saskatoon SK S7N 1Y7

Phone: (306) 664-1901
Fax: (306) 664-4404

E-Mail: saskflax@saskflax.com
Web Site: http://www.saskflax.com/

Regulations

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1. Board Members Sask Flax board of directors include:
Gordon Cresswell, Chairperson Box 2260 Tisdale, Saskatchewan S0E 1T0	Allen Kuhlmann, Vice Chair P.O. Box 126 Rouleau, Saskatchewan S0G 4H0

Lyle Simonson Site 4 Box 10, R.R. #1 Swift Current, Saskatchewan S9H 3X7	David Sefton Box 262 Broadview, Saskatchewan S0G 0K0

Edmond Aime P.O. Box 221 Redvers, Saskatchewan S0C 2H0	Chris Hale Box 189 Rouleau, Saskatchewan SOG 4H0

Board members are responsible to producers. If you are a producer and have concerns about the current operations or have ideas about what issues the organization should be working on, please contact any of them.

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2. Flax Straw Fibre Plants

Environmental pressures to reduce burning of crop residue is encouraging the development of a non-food fibre processing sector in Saskatchewan. Burning excess straw is becoming unacceptable for two main reasons: loss of nutrients and organic matter from the soil, and health and air quality problems experienced from smoke. As a result, non-burning alternatives had to be discovered in order to discourage this practice by producers.

Currently Saskatchewan has four private companies which can be considered active in the field of non-food fibre processing. Some of these are using non-food fibre as a component to blend with their raw materials, while others utilize non-food fibre as their primary raw material. Products include: insulating panels for the automobile industry, wood substitutes, and egg trays. The main companies include: Urban Forest Recyclers(Swift Current); NuForm Packaging(Tisdale); Parkland Strawboard(Kamsack); Biolin Research(Saskatoon). In addition, Saskatchewan has research capacity in these companies as well as in the Department of Bio-Resource Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan and through the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI).

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Orders

Order #	Name (PDF files)	Date Implemented (Year/Month/Day)
10/00	Check-off Collection
9/98	Producer Registration
8/98	Reporting
3/96	Buyer Registration
2/96	Refund of Check-offs

For information on this or any other information relating to Sask Flax, please contact them directly by phone at (306) 664-1901 or by e-mail at saskflax@saskflax.com.