[AT] Flax Harvest

[Ralph Goff]

On 3/3/2011 11:30 AM, Gene Dotson wrote:
>      I wondered if the flax straw would be good fuel for an outside burner?
> Have one big enough to feed whole bales. Would solve the problem of getting
> rid of the straw and a ready fuel supply in the winter. I have heard of
> grain drying burners using straw to dry grain.
>
>                  Gene
Yes Gene, flax straw is an excellent choice for straw burning furnaces 
because it produces very little ash and burns very hot. My SIL has a 
bale burning stove in her greenhouse so we do use a few bales that way 
but the majority of the straw still is piled in the field and burned. 
There is a lot of straw in a couple of hundred acres of this crop.
Paul, the flax can be straight cut providing it has ripened evenly but 
in many cases there are green patches. Swathing and leaving it lay a 
while will even out the ripening. Alternatively some will dessicate flax 
with glyphosate before harvest and in a few days everything dies and you 
can combine. Only problem is that I think dessicating affects the 
germination so the seed can not be used to plant next year. Plus I use a 
little home ground flax in my bread and prefer it "roundup-free".

Ralph in Sask.