Is flax hard on the land???

[Hopperbin]

Surprised no one mentioned growing Canola after the flax crop. I used to do that when I wanted to reduce the cereal in the rotation when cereals were lower priced. Canola after flax does well. True sometimes there is less moisture in the top layer of soil after flax which can make the soil hard and dry. I quit growing the flax as seemed to have gotten a cleaver problem in the area. If having trouble with cleavers then should not grow flax.

[groundspeed]

I agree if you have cleavers you will just make the problem worse. i cant grow flax for that reason.

[rhoff]

We quit growing flax because the durum yield the
next year always took a hit compared to the
durum on canola stubble. Yah sure it will chop
good when threshing on a warm day but with flax
you will combine in October many years and
even with a good chopper it will cause you grief
at seeding time. Flax has to be $3/bushel more
than canola to make the same gross margin.Im
actually thankful we don't have any flax stubble
to seed into this spring. .

[Jagfarms]

My plan is to put green lentils on my flax
stubble in 2012.

[$short]

what rate of fertilizer do you use on flax. we havent grown any for quite some time so wondering what other guys use for fert. is it about 75 percent of canola

[$short]

what rate of fertilizer do you use on flax. we havent grown any for quite some time so wondering what other guys use for fert. is it about 75 percent of canola

[freewheat]

I don't think flax is hard on the land. I don't really think it is good for the land either. A perception one may get after flax, is that it seems so dry and hard at times with the minimal canopy on the soil surface causing most of this. If I remember right, flax uses the vast majority of its moisture from the top 28 inches or so, and so if it is followed with a deeper rooted crop, that follow crop can cash in on the moisture. I too have had to quit growing it due to hemp nettle and cleavers, though I have some new land that was hayland for 30 years that should be clean of cleavers etc..

Jag farms, putting lentils after flax, what do you plan to spray? I have a couple neighbors who have been spraying their flax with a half rate of pursuit to see if they can solve the cleaver hemp nettle problem. I would be concerned with the volunteer in lentils.

I like it as a crop, it rounds out a rotation nicely, and in this wet zone we are in, the drying effect can mean seeding in decent time for once. But those dang cleavers. GRRRRR........

And the straw, I always just dropped and burned the windrows. No problem.

[Daylate]

we use about a 75- 25 blend with all phos in the seed row. Used to be 50ishN but now have managed to get a 30 bu avg out of the last 4 years, and prior to that was 20bu avg.
Canola follows flax awesome in wet years. |The ground is firmer and can seed faster. The last 3 years we have got our highest yielding canola from flax stubble, but with that being said in the early 2000's our canola following flax was less. It dries out the ground so it depends on the year.
not sure how well it workes but we try seed our flax north and south, because they say that way the sun isn't beating down on the same piece of ground all day.
The chemical AUTHORITY works well on kochia and cleavers. Its registered for chickpeas but their trying to get reg for flax, but it sucks on w. mustard and v. canola so u still need buctril of coarse. Authority is sprayed as a pre emerg, with glyfos and works in the soil so seeding a day after to work it in works well, as long as theres moisture.
we had only 500ac of flax last year and none planned for this year. I agree a $3/bu. incentive over canola is minimum to entice me.
Have also tried headline in 2 diff years with mixed results. not sold on it for flax yet for us cause its usually our last to seed so i worry about early frosts on it cause it definetly adds a few days to maturity

[rhoff]

Jagfarms we have had lentils on flax stubble and
it always turned out to be a disaster with
volunteer flax. Even with clearfield lentils we had
way too much flax. You would be better off
seeding pretty much any crop other than lentils
on flax stubble.

[Tom4Wildrose]

rhoff,

I agree ESPECIALLY since they didn't preharvest glyphosate kill the weeds for next year.

Clearfield Lentils are a tease... cause they need really clean land or AFTER Aug 1 they look like a disaster area being overgrown by every weed going.

I thought the Sencor system kept conventional lentils much cleaner becuse we always sprayed them twice... the broadleaf weeds didn't go near as wild.

No competiton... the flax will grow.

Jag... are you SURE your flax has absolutely NO gm event in it?

If it is a CDC variety... READ your last Secan letter.... GET NEW BREEDER SEED this year! Everything else is contaminated we are told.

[Hopperbin]

Not sure what you use for a combine but I had a 2188 IH when I did chop flax. I was straight cutting and used a home made stationary blade set up on the chopper which used swather blades welded on in place of the stationary blades of the time. Probably could improve any combine with these swather blades welded on in place of the stationary knives. IH chopper typically does not chop great. Not sure I agree with needing more dollars per bushel for flax as your seed costs are 10 dollars per acre instead of up to 50 for Canola. I never put phosphate on flax either, it does not respond to phosphate in our area. N should be less than cereal or canola.
Glyphosate does not kill flax in the fall but should be used to kill weeds.

[Jagfarms]

Last year I had FP 2214 flax seeded for seed
production grown from breeder seed for
pedigreed seed production.

They named the Variety this year and it is called
Prairie Sapphire. I had it tested and it vame
back no GM detected.

If I grow flax again it will be for pedigree seed
production grown on Virgin flax Land.

Growing canola on flax stubble I know the
roundup will work for weed control but if any
flax would grow it would be hard to seperate ad
they are close to the same size.
Could this be a problem?

I am going to put some lentils on canola stubble
in 2012. It may not look to good but the canola
will clean out easy with our cleaner.