College Station, Texas
April 4, 2008
During the early 1950’s, more than
a quarter of a million acres of flax – an oilseed crop – could
be found growing from Waco southward in Texas. Grown primarily
for the vegetable oil market, it may have new potential as a
biodiesel crop as determined in part by a Texas AgriLife
Research field trial experiment, according to researchers.
Four varieties of flax pioneered by the agency formerly known as
the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station during that time are
part of a recently developed research trial funded by Chevron
Energy Technology Ventures.
“It’s kind of like we’re coming full circle,” said Dr. Gaylon
Morgan, small grains researcher and member of the
Texas A&M AgriLife project
team. “Flax was grown on about 400,000 acres during that time
and Texas AgriLife Research had an active flax breeding program.
“Those varieties were known nationwide for having good cold
tolerance. That’s what we needed, a flax variety was something
you could plant in the fall, survive the winter, avoid late
freezes, and produce seed in the spring. Now we’re evaluating
this as a possible biodiesel product or (one which) could be
used in the vegetable oil industry.”
Canola, rapeseed, winter-hearty safflower, and camelina can be
found growing in the field trials near College Station.
“This project is funded by Chevron Technology Ventures, and
there is another (camelina) trial funded by Targeted Growth
International,” Morgan said.
Results from this trial, as well as some spring types will be
harvested in the next month and a half, Morgan said. Winter
types will be harvested in about two months, he said.
The project does have its challenges, Morgan said, such as stand
establishment.
“Most of these crops have small seeds and must be planted very
shallow compared to our traditional crops,” he said. “Therefore,
good stand establishment is highly dependent on a rainfall
following planting. Some other things we are running into now
are weed control problems. There’s not a whole of herbicides
labeled for these crops.”
Harvesting has some challenges, too, Morgan added.
“Again, these are small seeds, and some varieties are worse
about shattering and require a timely harvest.”
There are 51 entry trials at the College Station plot and have
been repeated at nine locations across the state at different
Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Centers.
“We’re trying to get a good idea of where these species and
varieties fit in specific growing regions across Texas,” Morgan
said.
The data collected on the different varieties will be used in
determining which type of crop is best suited for either the
biodiesel or vegetable oil industry, Morgan said.
“If it’s biodiesel we’re considering, we want the highest oil
yield per acre. The majority of the crops being evaluated have
an oil content of about 40 percent. However, if some of these
varieties have vegetable oil potential, then oil characteristics
may be more important.” |
|
