Climate change is likely to hurt Europe’s flax harvest for 2023. Flax has a short growing season. Its sowing was disrupted this year by a long sowing season that prolonged in May instead of the normal March to mid-April.
Flax has a short growing season, and this was disrupted this year by a particularly long sowing period, which lasted from March until the beginning of May. Normally, the sowing period lasts from March to mid-April.
Flax, also known as Linum usitatissimum, is a flowering plant that belongs to the Linaceae family. It is primarily cultivated for its versatile fibers and nutritious seeds. Flax has been used for thousands of years for various purposes, including the production of linen textiles and flaxseed oil.
According to Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp, Flax is an adaptable crop that can thrive in diverse climatic conditions. It prefers temperate regions with moderate rainfall and well-drained soils. The plant requires a cool growing season and is typically sown in spring or fall, depending on the region.
Alternating periods of dry spells and intense rainfall hampered early agricultural work that is “so crucial for flax”, the Paris-based alliance said.
Farmers have grown flax on 147,000 hectares in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands this year, which is an increase of 2 percent compared to 2022, showing the confidence of the farmers in the crop. But early feedback from farmers reveals yields for 2023 of between 3.5 and 5.5 tons of straw per hectare, compared to between 6 and 7 tons of straw in normal years. Farmers expect a yield of 7 ton Farmers a yield of 7 tonnes of straw per hectare but only on the very best plots.
Under normal resting conditions, the alliance has said, this should lead to an estimated drop in fiber volumes of between 26 percent and 36 percent. In 2022, farmers produced 152,000 tonnes of long fibers.
Flax fiber volumes under Pressure in Europe
