Extension Communications
Extension 4-H Youth Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3630
(515) 294-9915
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Extension Communications |
2-17-04
Contacts:
Margaret Smith, Iowa State University, value-added agriculture,
(515) 294-0887, mrgsmith@iastate.edu
Christa Hartsook, communications specialist, AgMRC, (515) 294-4430, hartc@iastate.edu
AMES, Iowa - Producers interested in organic flax production and contract growing opportunities for 2004 are invited to attend an informational meeting Saturday, Feb. 21, 2004. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Western Iowa Tech Cherokee Center on the north side of Cherokee.
“Flaxseed is used to make linseed oil and it has a variety of other uses, including livestock feed and the baking industry. While flax has been utilized 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, Iowa State University Extension, value-added agriculture.
Meeting sessions include “Organics—Planting for the Future” with Reese Moorman, Spectrum Organics, Petaluma, Calif.; “Oilseed Flax Production Research” with Matt Harbur, Southwest Research Station, University of Minnesota, Lamberton and “Growing Organic Flax” with Carmen Fernholz, a producer from Madison, Minn.
“We encourage producers interested in diversifying crop acres or trying something different to attend this meeting and learn more about flax production opportunities,” Smith said.
For more information, contact Smith at Iowa State University at (515) 294-0887 or mrgsmith@iastate.edu or Mark Shuett of BIOWA Nutraceuticals at (712) 225-3500.
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