Flax renewed interest in on-farm use
The flax industry was very important in the first half of last century and then went into decline as other species and end products were substituted. There has been a steady resurgence in interest in the past few decades as other shelter species have gone out of favour and the robustness of NZ flax has been recognised once again for shelter, margins of wetlands and waterways, nutrient absorption, and as a resource for fibre, neutraceuticals and novel products. The Sustainable Farming Fund has mounted a multifaceted project exploring ways in which the strengths of flax can be exploited. Their aim is to increase on-farm use and build up a resource that may be used in the future as the raw material for new industries built around flax.
Captain Cook's father-and-son botany team of George and Johann Forster gave NZ flax its scientific name: Phormium tenax : Phormium after the Greek for basket, and tenax, Latin for strong. The Maori name for flax is harakeke: 'hara' is derived from Polynesian names for pandanus and keke meaning strong or stubborn.
In pre-European times, the Maori relied greatly on the flax plant for their everyday needs everything from clothing to buckets to rope. By 1830, flax had become a major export, grown, harvested and processed by local tribes, and shipped off to Sydney where it was made into rope.
Maori also used harakeke for medicine. Roots were roasted on hot stones, and macerated into a poultice for abscesses and ulcers. They were also boiled and used as a blood purifier. Flax root juice was applied to wounds as a disinfectant. The gum at the base of the plant was used for treating burns and ringworm. Toothache was treated with a few drops of juice from root or leaf base in the cavity of the affected tooth or in the inner ear. Splints for broken bones were made from leaf bases, and flax fibres or strips used for sewing up a wound. The flower nectar provided a beverage and food sweetener while flower stalks were tied into bundles to make rafts. Seed pods were used to dye fabric.
So NZ flax was seen as a very versatile and useful plant. Its use for rope saw a strong industry thrive from the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s. The large plantings of that era have now largely disappeared. The 5000 acre Moutua estate between Shannon and Foxton was hugely significant in the industry. Breeding and research work was done there through the 20s, 30s and 40s by Massey College and then the DSIR, and it was a major source for the mills in and around Foxton making wool packs, textiles, and bonded felts. It was eventually sold to Landcorp in the 1980s and converted to dairying. Only a few pockets of flax remain.
Flax once grew throughout NZ. It has been around for at least 20 million years and is hardy, adaptable and grows easily in many situations.
Maurice Murray, nurseryman, has been in the nursery industry since 1961. He remembers starting to work with flax as a shelter plant in the early 70s. At that time he was growing a lot of pampas but in the late 70s started to get a bad name for spreading and during the 80s it was phased out, and use of flax built up.
In the early 80s the Rotorua county council started fencing off the margins of streams running into Lake Rotorua and planting flax, which Maurice supplied. Demand has gradually increased each year ever since for shelter, stream banks, erosion protection, and so on. It is still increasing, he says, but the increase is coming mainly from regional councils.
Varieties he grows:
P. tenax, Moutua strain, the original one that was grown for the flax milling industry in Foxton.
P. tenax Santoft strain mainly for shelter belts because it grows taller and faster.
P. cookianum Manawatu Gorge strain which is suitable for very dry country, extremely hardy. Other strains are useful in high, cold areas.
In the last few years a few farmers have been planting shelter belts where travelling irrigators are being used. Flax of the right strain will tolerate lots of water and will stand up to occasional rolling by irrigator wheels.
For stream margins he recommends planting the flax on whichever side of the stream you can get a machine to and put trees on the other side, the reason being that you can drive an excavator over the flax to clean out the waterway if necessary.
Problems electric fencing of shelter belts because the leaves can grow to drape over wires and short them out. Need to keep well clear.
Liz McGruddy Manager of the Sustainable Farming Funds Flax Project
In recent years there has been resurgence in interest in flax, and there is the potential for flax to come back again as an industry. Work is under way in a number of institutions, exploring a range of applications (for fibre and extracts). A recent seminar show-cased prototype biomaterials, fabric, building panels.
Most of this work is still in the early stages. Further down the track, investments in continued product/market development will in part depend on having confidence in the development of supply lines. Many landowners are attracted by the prospect of growing flax for commercial return but they need to know the markets are there (and we're not at that point yet, beyond restricted niche and traditional uses). Its a chicken and egg situation and it could be a great package: it would be a pity for it to peter out for the lack of a bit of linking.
This is the essence of the SFF Flax project: we are seeking to link the supply/demand sides in the early stages of what could be a new industry. Strengthening the reasons for on-farm plantings, which may be established principally for environmental/farming reasons, but which may equally serve to build a resource that can be harvested for applications being developed.
Currently nobody is farming flax but there have been some significant plantings for other purposes. Around the margin of Lake Horowhenua local iwi have planted some 150,000 plants. A dairy farmer at Taupo has bought 4000 flax for establishing a shelterbelts on his farm because it can coexist with a pivot irrigator.
Dr Grant Douglas, AgResearch, is one of several scientists working on properties of flax.
Nutrient accumulation at several locations he has studied the nutrient status in flax. By analysing for N, K P & S he has been able to gauge the nutient accumulation in flax and therefore its value in removing nutrients from agricultural runoff in wetlands etc. The short answer is that it does remove K well, moderate amounts of N, but not much P or S. Certainly not as good as pasture or maize, but on a par with coppiced willow or poplar trees. Has the advantage of being long lived.
Flax as an anthelmintic anecdotal evidence suggested that eating flax reduced worm problems in cattle, but Dr Annette Litherland of AgResearch tested whole chopped flax on calves and although they ate fairly large quantities there was no anti-worm effect that she could detect in fact the high fibre content of the feed made the calves scour.
Flax as a feed for ruminants the high fibre content makes whole flax indigestible, but Annette found that the green fraction stripped out during fibre production is a reasonable feed.
Living Nature in Northland is the largest existing user of flax gel in the lotions and potions range. IRL has been researching the yield and viscosity of different varieties of flax for application in the cosmetics market as a thickener. I'm doing work at the moment on harvesting seed and there has been a couple of experimental presses of the oil at Lincoln, preliminary work on shelf life and its fatty acid profile with the report is due soon. (NB. Flax seed oil sold in supermarkets comes from linen flax.)
Gordon Burr runs the museum, a working mill with stripping and scutching machines. Gordon started in the industry when he was 14, is now 76, and has seen all the booms and busts. He supplies fibre to people around the country exploring new applications Scion for their biopolymer work, rope webbing for sand stabilisation, tow for baby mattresses
The museum is open to the public from 1pm 3pm.
Captain Cook's father-and-son botany team of George and Johann Forster gave NZ flax its scientific name: Phormium tenax : Phormium after the Greek for basket, and tenax, Latin for strong. The Maori name for flax is harakeke: 'hara' is derived from Polynesian names for pandanus and keke meaning strong or stubborn.
In pre-European times, the Maori relied greatly on the flax plant for their everyday needs everything from clothing to buckets to rope. By 1830, flax had become a major export, grown, harvested and processed by local tribes, and shipped off to Sydney where it was made into rope.
Maori also used harakeke for medicine. Roots were roasted on hot stones, and macerated into a poultice for abscesses and ulcers. They were also boiled and used as a blood purifier. Flax root juice was applied to wounds as a disinfectant. The gum at the base of the plant was used for treating burns and ringworm. Toothache was treated with a few drops of juice from root or leaf base in the cavity of the affected tooth or in the inner ear. Splints for broken bones were made from leaf bases, and flax fibres or strips used for sewing up a wound. The flower nectar provided a beverage and food sweetener while flower stalks were tied into bundles to make rafts. Seed pods were used to dye fabric.
So NZ flax was seen as a very versatile and useful plant. Its use for rope saw a strong industry thrive from the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s. The large plantings of that era have now largely disappeared. The 5000 acre Moutua estate between Shannon and Foxton was hugely significant in the industry. Breeding and research work was done there through the 20s, 30s and 40s by Massey College and then the DSIR, and it was a major source for the mills in and around Foxton making wool packs, textiles, and bonded felts. It was eventually sold to Landcorp in the 1980s and converted to dairying. Only a few pockets of flax remain.
Flax once grew throughout NZ. It has been around for at least 20 million years and is hardy, adaptable and grows easily in many situations.
Maurice Murray, nurseryman, has been in the nursery industry since 1961. He remembers starting to work with flax as a shelter plant in the early 70s. At that time he was growing a lot of pampas but in the late 70s started to get a bad name for spreading and during the 80s it was phased out, and use of flax built up.
In the early 80s the Rotorua county council started fencing off the margins of streams running into Lake Rotorua and planting flax, which Maurice supplied. Demand has gradually increased each year ever since for shelter, stream banks, erosion protection, and so on. It is still increasing, he says, but the increase is coming mainly from regional councils.
Varieties he grows:
P. tenax, Moutua strain, the original one that was grown for the flax milling industry in Foxton.
P. tenax Santoft strain mainly for shelter belts because it grows taller and faster.
P. cookianum Manawatu Gorge strain which is suitable for very dry country, extremely hardy. Other strains are useful in high, cold areas.
In the last few years a few farmers have been planting shelter belts where travelling irrigators are being used. Flax of the right strain will tolerate lots of water and will stand up to occasional rolling by irrigator wheels.
For stream margins he recommends planting the flax on whichever side of the stream you can get a machine to and put trees on the other side, the reason being that you can drive an excavator over the flax to clean out the waterway if necessary.
Problems electric fencing of shelter belts because the leaves can grow to drape over wires and short them out. Need to keep well clear.
Liz McGruddy Manager of the Sustainable Farming Funds Flax Project
In recent years there has been resurgence in interest in flax, and there is the potential for flax to come back again as an industry. Work is under way in a number of institutions, exploring a range of applications (for fibre and extracts). A recent seminar show-cased prototype biomaterials, fabric, building panels.
Most of this work is still in the early stages. Further down the track, investments in continued product/market development will in part depend on having confidence in the development of supply lines. Many landowners are attracted by the prospect of growing flax for commercial return but they need to know the markets are there (and we're not at that point yet, beyond restricted niche and traditional uses). Its a chicken and egg situation and it could be a great package: it would be a pity for it to peter out for the lack of a bit of linking.
This is the essence of the SFF Flax project: we are seeking to link the supply/demand sides in the early stages of what could be a new industry. Strengthening the reasons for on-farm plantings, which may be established principally for environmental/farming reasons, but which may equally serve to build a resource that can be harvested for applications being developed.
Currently nobody is farming flax but there have been some significant plantings for other purposes. Around the margin of Lake Horowhenua local iwi have planted some 150,000 plants. A dairy farmer at Taupo has bought 4000 flax for establishing a shelterbelts on his farm because it can coexist with a pivot irrigator.
Dr Grant Douglas, AgResearch, is one of several scientists working on properties of flax.
Nutrient accumulation at several locations he has studied the nutrient status in flax. By analysing for N, K P & S he has been able to gauge the nutient accumulation in flax and therefore its value in removing nutrients from agricultural runoff in wetlands etc. The short answer is that it does remove K well, moderate amounts of N, but not much P or S. Certainly not as good as pasture or maize, but on a par with coppiced willow or poplar trees. Has the advantage of being long lived.
Flax as an anthelmintic anecdotal evidence suggested that eating flax reduced worm problems in cattle, but Dr Annette Litherland of AgResearch tested whole chopped flax on calves and although they ate fairly large quantities there was no anti-worm effect that she could detect in fact the high fibre content of the feed made the calves scour.
Flax as a feed for ruminants the high fibre content makes whole flax indigestible, but Annette found that the green fraction stripped out during fibre production is a reasonable feed.
Living Nature in Northland is the largest existing user of flax gel in the lotions and potions range. IRL has been researching the yield and viscosity of different varieties of flax for application in the cosmetics market as a thickener. I'm doing work at the moment on harvesting seed and there has been a couple of experimental presses of the oil at Lincoln, preliminary work on shelf life and its fatty acid profile with the report is due soon. (NB. Flax seed oil sold in supermarkets comes from linen flax.)
Gordon Burr runs the museum, a working mill with stripping and scutching machines. Gordon started in the industry when he was 14, is now 76, and has seen all the booms and busts. He supplies fibre to people around the country exploring new applications Scion for their biopolymer work, rope webbing for sand stabilisation, tow for baby mattresses
The museum is open to the public from 1pm 3pm.