“Old crop really jumped up here through the month of May,” Shiels said. “That hopped things from around $18 (per bushel) to as high as $25.”

He added that prices for new crop rose from C$16 to about C$20/bu.

Although Shiels wasn’t exactly sure as to why flax prices increased last month, he credited it in part to some buyers being caught short of the oilseed.

However, Shiels noted an increase in planted acres, which would normally push prices lower. He said additional acres was due in part to the dryness in western Saskatchewan.

But initial estimates called for one of the smallest flax crops in quite some time.

Going into the 2025/26 crop year, Statistics Canada projected 181,400 hectares of flax to be planted by Canadian farmers. That would be down by more than 12 per cent from 2024/25.

If StatCan’s estimate were to hold, it would be the smallest planted flax crop since 1949 when farmers seeded 125,900 hectares. The most flax planted was in 1957 at 1.41 million hectares.

Meanwhile, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada estimated flax production for 2025/26 at 230,000 tonnes, down from the previous year’s 258,000. If AAFC’s projection holds, it would make for the smallest harvest since 1950 when farmers reaped 126,000 tonnes.

Canada’s largest flax crop came in 1970 with almost 1.22 million tonnes.

In AAFC’s outlook, it projected Canadian flax exports of 200,000 tonnes, down from 250,000 in 2024/25. Total domestic use is to come to 90,000 tonnes, a 2,000 dip from last year. Ending stocks are to fall from 90,000 tonnes to 40,000.

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Canola exports in August of 956,300 tonnes were more than twice the amount the previous August. The bulk of the canola, 718,000 tonnes, was shipped to China, versus 233,300 tonnes a year ago.

China was also Canada’s top customer for barley, with 34,600 tonnes shipped compared to none a year ago. Total barley exports came to 46,800 tonnes compared to 8,500 the previous August.

Soybeans as well darted out with 65,500 tonnes exported compared to a mere 200 tonnes a year ago. Algeria was the top destination, taking in 44,000 tonnes.

Canada’s corn exports were 168,200 tonnes shipped versus 86,800 the previous August. Ireland was the leading importer with 121,000 tonnes compared to 42,900 the same time last year.

Durum exports improved to 200,500 tonnes compared to 173,900. At 72,700 tonnes, Morocco was the top buyer, upping their acquisitions from 49,100 tonnes the previous August.

On the flip side, there were some grains that came up short or struggled during the first month of the 2024/25 crop year.

Canada’s wheat exports in August tallied 1.24 million tonnes, down from nearly 1.40 million a year ago. Indonesia led purchases with 159,400 tonnes versus 97,000 the previous August. Also, Peru bought 153,000 tonnes compared to zero a year ago.

Oats dropped to 94,200 tonnes from 234,100 the previous August. The United States was the top destination at 66,900 tonnes, but that’s down from 164,900 a year ago. Also Chile acquired none while having imported 50,900 tonnes last August.

Rye exports in August came to only 2,600 tonnes versus 18,600 tonnes a year ago with all of it for both years going to the U.S.

Flax also dropped with 1,700 tonnes shipped abroad compared to 4,300 tonnes a year ago, with the U.S. as the primary buyer in either August.

Bulk Canadian pea exports tumbled to 10,900 tonnes versus 70,200 tonnes. China cut its imports to 10,600 tonnes from 39,800 and Cuba purchased zero compared to 25,000 tonnes in August 2023.

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In a report released late last month, StatCan projected only 689,000 acres of flaxseed to be planted this spring, an 11.6 per cent decrease from the year before. More significantly, the total number of flax acres would be the fewest since 1950.

While flaxseed area in Manitoba is expected to expand 40 per cent to 71,200 acres, Saskatchewan and Alberta were projected to see declines of 11.7 and 31.6 per cent to 527,300 and 88,000 acres, respectively.

Greg Sundquist, chair of the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission (SaskFlax), said StatCan’s estimate for flax acres is “very close.” While flax prices are doing well, those for other commodities were outperforming the oilseed, he said.

“Canola, wheat, barley. With the pricing there, we haven’t been able to attract acres,” Sundquist said. “The people that grow flax really like to grow flax. Flax can be very profitable as other crops right now.”

The high-delivered bid for Saskatchewan flax as of Friday was $16 per bushel — $21 lower than one year earlier, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. This compared to the high-delivered bid for Saskatchewan canola at $17.24/bu.

Other issues that have continued to deter growers from flax include variable yields and the removal of flax straw after harvest, according to Sundquist.

Canadian flax has been effectively shut out of European and Chinese markets due to the influx of cheaper products from Russia and Kazakhstan. As a result, the Canadian flax market has focused on satiating U.S. food demand as well as its own.

“We’re supplying the U.S. for their needs and Canadian needs. Flax has gotten to be more of a food (product) just due to the health benefit of flax and that translates into human food, pet food, livestock food and a lot of it is going into the U.S.,” Sundquist said, adding that Canada’s flax industry is trying to break into the Mexican market.

Flax is very disease-resistant compared to canola, as well as cheaper to grow, and can be quite profitable, he said, adding the lack of flax acres will become a temporary setback.

“It depends on the markets (and) what prices have to go to in order to attract more flax acres,” Sundquist said. “Is it a permanent thing? I’m not sure. Is it a temporary thing? I hope so.”

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.

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Mike Popowich, owner and vice-president of TA Foods Ltd. at Yorkton, Sask., said demand for the crop grown in Western Canada is currently not as strong as for other commodities, despite flax’s recent status as a heart-healthy food.

“Demand is fairly weak. The price is still too high for competitive bidding in the export markets,” Popowich, a director for the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP), explained. “There seems to be an excess on the market, which is weighing on prices and has been over the last couple of months.”

As of Wednesday, the high-delivered bid for flax in Saskatchewan was $17.50 per bushel, down $1 from the start of 2023 and down $20.50 from one year ago, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. In Manitoba, the high-delivered bid was $17.22/bu., down 65 cents from last month and $20.03 lower than at the same week last year. In Alberta, the high-delivered bid was $16.89, down 21 cents from Jan. 1 and $15.60 lower than on Feb. 1, 2022.

According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Canada produced 346,000 tonnes of flaxseed in 2021-22 and is projected to grow 474,000 during the 2022-23 marketing year. For 2023-24, 500,000 tonnes are expected to be grown.

However, seeded area is expected to stay below one million acres and total domestic use is dropping to below 100,000 tonnes. As a result, carryout stocks are estimated to be 100,000 tonnes and above this year and next, putting more pressure on prices.

Adding to price pressures is more plentiful and cheaper flax from Russia and Kazakhstan.

“They have a lot of flaxseed available to market at fairly low pricing to major buyers like China and now it’s going to turn Canadian flax into a domestic or North American commodity. That’s going to decrease prices and lead to lower overall demand,” Popowich said.

He added that Russian-origin flax would not deter European buyers who would otherwise be hesitant due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Kazakhstan produced around 2.5 million tonnes of flax last year, according to Popowich.

“Kazakhstan is supplying a lot of the European market and right now a lot of Russian flax would be supplying the Chinese demand, so that has definitely hindered Canadian exports to the European Union and Chinese market in the last year,” Wayne Thompson, CEO of the Flax Council of Canada, said to Allan Dawson of Country Guide last month.

“For many years, Canadian flax had easier access to the Chinese market. In recent years both Russian and Kazakhstan flax was limited as to what could be imported into China, but over the last three or four years those quotas have been increased so Russia and Kazakhstan are able to export more flax than they used to into the Chinese market.”

Seeded flax area in Canada is projected to increase from 778,000 acres in 2022 to 865,000 in 2023. But Popowich believes canola may still take away acres from flax.

“(Flax prices) are still fairly high, but they may be not as attractive as they might be with other commodities being attractive in price,” he said. “We should see another decline in acreage, but it’s hard to tell until things start happening on the production contract side in the market.”

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.

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The Flax Council of Canada said Tuesday its search for a new president is underway, after Wayne Thompson announced in August he has left the position to become executive director of the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), effective Dec. 1.

“Over the past two years, it has been a fantastic opportunity to serve the board of directors and be part of the Flax Council of Canada,” Thompson, who previously served a stint as a WGRF program manager, said in a release Tuesday.

Thompson has been president of the national council since 2021, and executive director of the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission (SaskFlax) since 2014. He took the national council through what it described Tuesday as “a transition in membership and direction.”

The Flax Council of Canada, in operation since 1986, shut its Winnipeg head office in 2018. At the time it cited declining flax production and a corresponding decline in levy funding; it also saw the departure of a major funding member, Richardson International, at that time.

On Thompson’s watch, the council said, it has also worked toward “eliminating trade barriers and building strong government relations to benefit the flax industry.”

The national council’s new search for a president also follows SaskFlax’s recent decision to merge its management and office with fellow oilseed development commission SaskCanola in Saskatoon.

After Thompson’s announced departure for the WGRF, SaskFlax and the Flax Council of Canada had jointly put out a call in August for a new chief executive for the two organizations. But that joint position was not filled and the Flax Council is not a party to the new SaskFlax/SaskCanola arrangement.

The national council’s board said Tuesday it will work with Ralph Kikkert of Guelph consultancy Strive on a “thorough search” for its next president “over the next several months.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Scoular Canada on Wednesday announced the opening of its “high-speed” flax line at Richardson, Sask., where it already processes and cleans lentils, peas and canary seed.

The company broke ground on the flax operation last winter as part of a $10 million investment at the site, which also included the recent addition of another pulse crop cleaning line.

“High-speed” refers to the “industry-leading” rate at which the plant can clean flax to the “high purity standards our customers require,” Jeff Vipond, Scoular Canada’s general manager for pulses, seeds, distilling and milling, said via email Wednesday.

That processing rate, he said, “will substantially increase our ability to grow our volumes into the high-quality ingredient space.”

The plant will produce whole and milled flax in the brown and golden categories for use in breads, cereal, bars, snacks and pastas as well as oils, supplements, pet foods and livestock feeds.

The flax plant “incorporates technology that enables it to deliver some of the highest-purity flax available on the market,” Scoular said Wednesday in a release, noting the plant is certified to Global Food Safety Initiative standards and has organic certification also.

Putting up the flax operation at Richardson was a matter of efficiency, Vipond said, as it allows the company to “leverage key personnel and a strong grower base across both sites.”

This week’s opening “coincides with a strong flax market and record-high prices for Canada,” Scoular said, as drought in North America, tight supplies worldwide and demand for pet food and flax oil have supported farmgate prices. Consumer awareness of flax as a non-GMO source of omega-3 fatty acids and fibre, meanwhile, has lifted demand.

Omaha-based Scoular dates back to 1892 but has been in Canada since 2015, when it took over the pulse and special crops division of Legumex Walker.

Its space in Canada remains mainly in the West, where it has offices at Calgary and Saskatoon, processing plants at Winkler and St. Jean Baptiste, Man. and Saskatoon and Tisdale, Sask., and grain handling sites at Brooksby, Sask. and Petersfield, Man. plus a transload site near Calgary. In the East, it has two warehouses in southwestern Ontario and one in New Brunswick.

The company in 2020 expanded its Winkler sunflower plant when it moved its Winnipeg birdseed operations there. That year it also stepped out of the Prairie edible bean business, selling the former Roy Legumex processing plants at Plum Coulee and Morden, Man. to a Michigan bean grower co-operative. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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“(Canadian flax) is expensive relative to other markets,” said analyst Marlene Boersch of Mercantile Consulting, speaking via Zoom in Winnipeg on Tuesday to the annual Crop Production Week in Saskatoon.

There was a greater potential for prices to move lower than higher, she added, unless supplies run out somewhere else in the world. U.S. end users are thought to be covered for the time being, while other buyers in Europe and China have access to flaxseed from Russia and Kazakhstan.

Flaxseed bids currently top out at $41 per bushel in Saskatchewan, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data, down $3 off their highs over the past month.

Canada’s freight advantage to Europe has decreased in recent years, due primarily to high ocean freight rates. That means Canada has to work harder to remain competitive with flaxseed from Russia and Kazakhstan that moves via rail, Boersch said, noting those two countries have also increased their flaxseed production over the past few years.

Drought conditions in 2021 cut into Canada’s flaxseed crop with total production down 40 per cent on the year, at 346,000 tonnes, according to Statistics Canada. Boersch estimated actual production may have been even lower, which will lead to a very tight carryout situation.

Canadian flaxseed exports are already running well behind the year-ago pace, and Boersch questioned if even the relatively low projection of 300,000 tonnes of total exports for the year would be possible.

Looking ahead to the 2022 growing season, “there’s a good chance that flax acres will go up,” she said.

However, she noted strong competition from other crops would limit that increase to only five per cent or so.

With a return to average yields, Canadian flaxseed supplies could be back up to 600,000 to 650,000 tonnes for the 2022-23 marketing year, which would see a much more comfortable stocks-to-use ratio, according to Boersch.

As a result, she recommended producers be 100 per cent sold on old-crop flax and to make sure they have seed secured if planning to grow the crop in 2022.

She also recommended forward-selling as much as they were comfortable for new-crop production at $24-$25 per bushel.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

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Marlene Boersch, owner of Mercantile Consulting Venture in Winnipeg, said the amount of flax from Canada going to the U.S. and European Union is greater than the year before. Canadian flaxseed has been filling the void left by Asian producers keeping their own product on the continent.

“What happened, as far as I can tell, some of the production that came out of Kazakhstan and Russia has been moving into China,” she said. “We are substituting what people were expecting from the Black Sea region into Europe from Canada.”

According to Prairie Ag Hotwire data from Wednesday, high-delivered bids for flax traded from $18.16 to $19.50 per bushel, up $4.50-$6 from last year.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s principal field crops outlook from Monday forecasts Canadian farmers will seed 460,000 hectares of flaxseed in 2021-22 — up 22 per cent from the previous year — and produce 675,000 tonnes of flax.

Scott Shiels of Grain Millers Canada at Yorkton, Sask. added that reduced supply has not only been due to increased exports, but also because the crop has fallen out of favour with some producers.

“Residue management’s tough (and) weed management isn’t great. It’s a tough crop to grow and it’s a tough crop to grow well,” he said.

“(Acres) have climbed a little bit for the last five years, but that supply coming off those acres is chasing a growing demand.”

Right now, he added, there is little downside to flax’s current situation — but also nowhere left to move upward.

“The market’s going to stay tight,” Shiels said. “We’ve seen prices as high as $22 (per bushel) recently. That’s the highest price I’ve seen in my 28 years in this business.”

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm.

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The Flax Council of Canada announced Monday its downtown Winnipeg office, which it shares with the Manitoba Flax Growers Association, will close effective Jan. 31.

Going forward, the council said it will “continue to operate on a reduced service basis.” Details on how the council will do so are still being discussed, council chairman Brian Johnson told Manitoba Co-operator reporter Allan Dawson on Monday.

The council, in its release, didn’t specify what “reduced service” will mean for growers, council membership or employees based at the Lombard Avenue office. The council in its release thanked its staff members for their work and said it “wish(es) them well in their future endeavours.”

The council’s staff today include financial administrator Maureen Jordan, executive assistant Monika Haley and, most recently, extension agronomist Rachel Evans, who was brought on full-time in September 2015.

The council in July announced the retirement of Don Kerr, its president since 2014, and hasn’t yet named a replacement.

The Flax Council of Canada has operated since 1986, promoting the “advancement of Canadian flax and flax products” and the crop’s nutritional and industrial uses in domestic and export markets.

Funding for the council has declined with a drop in Canadian flax production and sales, Johnson told the Co-operator.

The council is funded through a voluntary levy on flax sales remitted by Canadian flax sellers, he said, adding that not all sellers contribute.

The Manitoba Flax Growers Association and Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission, which represent flax farmers in their respective provinces, also contribute to specific council projects aimed at boosting flax sales.

“Over the course of the past year, the formation of a combined oilseed council was thoroughly discussed” at the request of some council members, Johnson said in Monday’s release. Johnson is a general manager for Manitoba flax seed producer and council levy contributor S.S. Johnson Seeds.

“Through these discussions, it became apparent that the formation of an oilseed council would not materialize in the foreseeable future. The result of this is a significant loss of funding to the council, necessitating cost reduction measures.”

In short, Johnson told the Co-operator, “we had to do it because our funding was quite dramatically cut… We’re still in a fairly good financial position, but we had to cut overhead. A lot of this [flax promotion] can be done off the premise.”

“Further dialogue will be needed to see what opportunities may lay ahead as the flax industry decides the merit of a national organization,” the council said Monday.

The council since 2013 has managed over $6.2 million in research and market development programming, with support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the agriculture ministries and its affiliated flax grower associations in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The council noted its “key role” in managing the fallout from the 2009 discovery of genetically-modified Triffid flax seed in shipments to the European Union, a discovery which shut the door on what had been the largest market for Canadian flax exports.

The council reiterated Monday it had put up financial support toward “significant” testing protocols to help remove Triffid from the Canadian flax seed supply.

The council has also succeeded in helping to get the word out on the health benefits of flax consumption and that will continue, as will the council’s website, Johnson said, pointing to increased flax in breads, power bars and omega-3 eggs.

Canada’s flax growers harvested an estimated 1.03 million flax acres in 2017, up from about 850,000 in 2016 but down from 1.595 million in 2015.

Canadian flax production for 2017 was estimated last month at about 548,200 tonnes, down from 588,000 in 2016 and 942,300 in 2015. Canadian farm cash receipts from flaxseed production in 2016 totalled $254.2 million, down from $310 million in 2015. — AGCanada.com Network

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About a third of the flaxseed crop is still left in the field in Saskatchewan, by the estimate of Tom Leier, senior grain buyer with Scoular Special Crops in Regina.

While there is a segment of farmers whose harvests are completely done, others were hit by snow and need an extended period of better weather to resume harvesting.

A hard freeze would also allow farmers to finish harvesting the flax crop, said Leier.

From a quality standpoint, anything that is still out in the field is at risk of downgrades. “The quality in front of this adverse weather was pretty good,” said Leier.

However, the last 40 to 45 per cent will be questionable, especially if anything has to overwinter.

If conditions don’t allow for the harvest to finish, “it will be a long spring for some people,” as producers will need to harvest before they begin seeding, said Leier.

From a pricing standpoint, poor weather has helped flaxseed bids strengthen a little, but not to the same extent as canola.

Leier said the wild card for flax is how much was carried over from the previous year. Statistics Canada estimated ending stocks as of July 31 at 274,000 tonnes, a figure well above the 97,000 tonnes carried over from the previous year.

Planted flaxseed area was down on the year, and StatsCan currently pegs production at 575,800 tonnes, compared to 942,300 in 2015-16.

Flaxseed is currently bid at about $10.50-$10.60 per bushel in Saskatchewan, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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