AMES, Iowa - Producers interested in organic flax production and marketing opportunities for 2005 are invited to attend one of a series of informational meetings located throughout Iowa on Feb. 1, 2, 3 or 4. The meetings are sponsored by Iowa State University (ISU) Extension, the Iowa Alliance for Cooperative Business Development and Practical Farmers of Iowa.

"Demand in the United States is increasing for flax, for both human consumption and animal feed. While flax has been used in human nutrition for approximately 5,000 years, seed flax has recently developed into an attractive high-nutrition crop due to being rich in dietary fiber, very high in essential fatty acids and high in vitamins and minerals," said Margaret Smith, ISU Extension, value-added agriculture specialist.

Meeting topics include an overview of the flax market and market trends in North America, marketing opportunities for 2005 with two companies, flax production techniques in Iowa, flax and farm program requirements and research plans and opportunities for 2005.

"We encourage producers interested in diversifying crop acres or trying something different to attend one of these meetings and learn more about flax production opportunities," Smith said.

All meetings are from 1 to 4 p.m. The Feb. 1 meeting will be held in Cherokee, at Western Iowa Tech Community College. The Feb. 2 meeting is offered at the Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Nashua. The Feb. 3 meeting will be located in Lewis, at the Iowa State University Southwest Area Extension Office and the Feb. 4 meeting is scheduled for Crawfordsville, at the Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm. Directions to the research farms can be found at http://www.ag.iastate.edu/farms/.

Pre-registration is not required. Funding for the meetings is provided by the Bioeconomy Working Group of the Value-Chain Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture grant program of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Iowa Alliance for Cooperative Business Development.

For more information, contact Smith at Iowa State at (515) 294-0887 or mrgsmith@iastate.edu or Fed Iutzi at Practical Farmers of Iowa at (515) 294-8512 or iutzi@iastate.edu.