UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA FLAX-MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN IMPERIAL VALLEY, WITH WORLD STATISTICS WALLACE SULLIVAN, H. LEE LANDERMAN, and G. A. CARPENTER BULLETIN 641 August, 1940 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 3 Brief history of flax in Cal ifornia 3 Acreage and yields 4 Average yield per acre * 4 Method of conducting enterprise-efficiency studies 6 Explanation of terms used in flax enterprise-efficiency studies 7 Yield, income, and costs 7 Percentage distribution of costs 9 Detailed costs and inputs of production factors 10 Seedbed preparation 10 Seeding 12 Irrigation 13 Harvesting flaxseed 14 Materials 14 Harvesting flax straw 15 Rental costs 16 Standard costs 17 Processing and trade 17 Products of flax 17 Flaxseed analysis 19 Flax straw 21 Market outlets 21 Factors affecting the price of flaxseed 22 Acknowledgments 23 Appendix of world flax statistics 24 FLAX-MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN IMPERIAL VALLEY, WITH WORLD STATISTICS 1 WALLACE SULLIVAN, 2 H. LEE LANDERMAN, 3 G. A. CARPENTER 4 INTRODUCTION This bulletin has been prepared for the purpose of presenting to flax growers a summary and an analysis of flax-production costs and man- agement practices in Imperial Valley. In addition, some important facts are presented concerning the products of flax and market facilities. Tables 18 to 29 in the Appendix contain data on production, supplies, imports, exports, and prices for the United States and the world. In 1935, in cooperation with flax growers in the Imperial Valley, the Agricultural Extension Service of the University of California began a study of costs, yields, income, and other factors that determine effi- ciency in the production of flax. This enterprise-efficiency study covers a period of five years, 1935 to 1939, inclusive. The number of records each year varied from 15 to 20 covering an acreage of 1,882 to 3,620. A total of 85 records covering 13,784 acres is included in the five-year period. The data in tables 3 to 14, inclusive, are compiled from records kept by the growers cooperating on a voluntary basis and turned in to the local farm advisor's office. These records are not presented as an average for the industry and hence may not be a true cross section, and the profits and incomes are probably considerably higher than those of the average producer. This is indicated by the greater average yield per acre for those records in the study than the average yield of the state (see table 2). The yearly average yield for the records in the study ranged from 5.0 to 13.9 bushels per acre higher than the state average for the corresponding years. BRIEF HISTORY OF FLAX IN CALIFORNIA In 1915 the California Agricultural Experiment Station in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture began experimenting with flax at several stations in the state. These experiments indicated that flax could be grown with a fair degree of success, but primarily because of better prices for other crops, no commercial plantings of importance 1 Received for publication March 18, 1940. 2 Specialist in Agricultural Extension. 3 Assistant in Agricultural Extension. 4 Assistant in Agricultural Extension and Associate on the Giannini Foundation ; resigned January 16, 1940. L 3 ] 4 University of California — -Experiment Station were made as a result of these experiments. The recent commercial pro- duction of flax in the state is the outgrowth of experiments begun in 1927 at the Imperial Valley Field Station at Meloland. Many varieties of flax were tested, and the Punjab variety stood out as superior to all others. In 1930 a plot of this variety at the Imperial Valley Field Station yielded 28.5 bushels per acre. In 1931 the seed from 2 acres was distrib- uted to a few farmers in the Valley who harvested 110 acres in 1932 and 350 acres in 1933. Several factors have contributed to the recent rapid expansion of commercial flax production in California: (1) The Punjab variety has been developed and has demonstrated its adaptability to Imperial Valley conditions and to other parts of the state. (2) The relatively low price of other grains has encouraged flax production. (3) Cottonseed-oil mills, which are located in the cotton-growing areas throughout the state, are readily available for use in crushing the oil from flaxseed. Inasmuch as flaxseed is harvested during May, June, and July, these mills may be employed during a period when there is little demand for crushing cot- tonseed. (4) The tillage and harvesting equipment 5 needed for growing flax is practically the same as that needed for producing small grains; consequently, very little additional equipment or change in old equip- ment is required. Acreage and Yields. — In 1934, 11,000 acres of flax were planted in the Imperial Valley yielding 242,000 bushels, with an average yield of 22 bushels per acre. In 1935 Imperial Valley increased its acreage to 23,500 ; the south San Joaquin Valley counties of Fresno, Kings, Kern, Tulare, and Madera planted approximately 9,600 acres ; and all other counties, 4,900 acres. Acreage steadily increased throughout these areas to reach an estimated total for the 1939 crop of 108,000 acres with a production of 1,728,000 bushels (table 1). For the crop harvested in 1939, Fresno County led with an acreage estimated at 46,000 ; Imperial was second with 42,000 acres ; and San Joaquin, third with 4,500 acres. In 1939 Cali- fornia ranked third (see table 23) among the states in the production of flaxseed, being exceeded only by Minnesota and North Dakota. Average Yield per Acre. — The average yield per acre of flaxseed in California is considerably higher than in the United States as a whole (see table 22). For the six-year period 1934-1939, the average yield per acre in bushels ranged from 14.0 in 1936 to 22.0 in 1934. The average for the United States during the same period ranged from 5.0 bushels in 1936 to 8.6 in 1938 (table 2) . 5 Division of Agricultural Engineering, Division of Agronomy, and Agricultural Extension Service. Flax harvesting investigations, 1939. Univ. California Col. Agr., Agr. Engin. Inform. Scr. No. 17:1-9, A-L. 1940. (Mimeo.) 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O T3 cu CO i a co a) cp 2 & p, O co ■fl 0) Q ^ 5-S ccj 3 to 3 eo as 8 ^ T3 ^Q ,a a> o -w o g °. .« OO -C co § o CO as > 03 •6 'J °° C co p as 08 T <0 T3 d Tl lO 00 -£3 13 =! o 2 co co as as § « U l-H 1— 1 Q £ £ 5 TABLE 24 Flaxseed Prices Per Bushel* at Minneapolis, Winnipeg, and Buenos Aires, 1920-21 to 1938-39 Yearf Minneapolis, No.l Northern Winnipeg, No.l Canada Western Buenos Aires Differential between Minneapolis prices and those in: Winnipeg Buenos Aires 1920-21 dollars 2.20 2.27 2.73 2.46 2.71 2.53 2.25 2.21 2.29 3.11 1.76 1.36 1.18 1.87 1.91 1.73 2.14 2.07 1.81 dollars 1.89 2.00 2.24 2.08 2.41 2.14 1 95 1.90 2.02 2.48 1.14 0.84 0.80 1.47 1.40 1.47 1.71 1.64 1.43 dollars 1.64 1.69 1.80 1.71 2.17 1.77 1.61 1.65 1.68 2.02 1.04 0.64 0.70 1.07 1.02 1.15 1.25 1.29 1.10 dollars 0.31 0.27 0.49 0.38 0.30 0.39 0.30 31 0.27 0.63 0.62 0.52 0.38 0.40 51 0.26 0.43 0.43 0.38 dollars 56 1921-22 58 1922-23 93 1923-24 75 1924-25 54 1925-26 76 1926-27 64 1927-28 0.56 1928-29 0.61 1929-30 1 09 1930-31 0.72 1931-32 1932-33 0.72 0.48 1933-34 80 1934-35 0.89 1935-36 0.58 1936-37 0.89 1937-38 0.78 1938-39 0.71 * One bushel of flax equals 56 pounds. t Year beginning August. Sources of data: 1920-21 to 1924-25: United States Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Yearbook 1925:841-42. 1926. 1925-26 to 1937-38: Flaxseed prices and the tariff, p. 71-74. 76th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document No. 62. 1938-39: United State Department of Agriculture Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Quarterly Flax Market Review. August 15, 1939. (Mimeo.) 30 1 1 1 1 , , 11.20 1920-21 1923-24 1926-27 1929-30 1932-33 1935-36 1938-39 Fig. 2. — Differential price of flaxseed, Minneapolis above Buenos Aires, tariff rate, and net imports into the United States, 1920-21 to 1938-39. Data from tables 20, 24, and 29. Bul. 641] Flax-Management Practices TABLE 25 33 Flaxseed Crushed, Linseed Oil Produced, Percentage of Oil in Flaxseed Crushed, United States, 1920-21 to 1937-38, and Price of Raw Linseed Oil at New York and Linseed Meal at Minne- apolis and San Francisco, 1920-21 to 1938-39 Year Flaxseed crushed*,! Linseed oil produced* Percentage oil produced of flaxseed crushed* Price of raw linseed oil at New York | Price of linseed meal at Minneapolis§ Price of linseed meal at San Francisco§ / i 3 4 5 6 1920-21 1,000 bushels 24,828 23,276 33,806 35,529 40,996 39,716 40,136 43,243 39,595 35,504 27,054 23,699 17,370 23,006 20,720 26,544 30,340 25,870 1,000 pounds 465,892 435,289 646,756 659,192 757,784 731,606 745,164 810,603 737,534 651,038 488,545 438,763 318,120 442,797 404,060 505,531 587,093 504,810 per cent 33 5 33.4 34.2 33.1 33.0 32.9 33.2 33.5 33.3 32.7 32.2 33.1 32.7 34 4 34.8 34.0 34.6 34.8 cents per pound 19.4 9.3 11.2 13.1 13.0 13.9 11.1 10.4 10.0 12.2 12.5 8.4 6.3 9.0 9.3 9.4 9.8 10.8 9.1 dollars per ton 50.21 47.31 49.48 43.57 43.31 45.24 45.67 48.35 52.99 52.72 35.85 27.22 21.50 32.24 39.50 26.13 43.96 38.15 38.62H dollars per ton 1 1921-22 1922-23 1923-24 . . 53.12 1924-25 . 52.54 1925-26 53.70 1926-27 51.68 1927-28 52.24 1928-29 53.50 1929-30 1930-31 52.94 35.87 1931-32 1932-33 1933-34 28.78 25.13 28.34 1934-35 33.45 1935-36 . 28.52 1936-37 . 38.77 1937-38 37.58 1938-39 34 77 * Year beginning October, 1920-21 to 1926-27; year beginning July, 1927-28 to date, t Bushels converted to pounds in calculating percentage of oil at the rate of 56 pounds per bushel of flaxseed. t Calendar years, 1920-1938. § Year beginning July. H Dashes indicate data not available. || Average for six months. Sources of data: Cols. 1 and 2: 1920-21 to 1926-27: United States Department of Agriculture. Yearbook of Agricul- ture 1934:449. 1934. 1927-28: United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Statistics 1938:83. 1938. 1928-29 to 1937-38: United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Statistics 1939:87. 1939. Col. 3: Calculated. Col. 4: Flaxseed prices and the tariff, p. 75. 76th Congress. 1st Session, Senate Document No. 62. Col. 5: 1920-21 to 1926-27: United States Department of Agriculture. Yearbooks of Agriculture 1930:667; 1933:464; 1934:450; 1935:416; and Agricultural Statistics, 1937:79. 1927-28 to 1938-39; Flaxseed prices and the tariff, p. 79. 76th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Docu- ment No. 62. Col. 6: University of California College of Agriculture. 1939 Outlook tables. (Mimeo.) 34 University of California — Experiment Station 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1921-22 1924-25 1927-28 1930-31 1933-34 1936-37 Fig. 3. — Price of linseed meal at San Francisco and Minneapolis and price of flaxseed at Minneapolis, 1921-22 to 1938-39. Data from tables 24 and 25. 0.00 Bul. 641 Flax-Management Practices 35 10 XI Price * g OO r-t CO IA O .H O r-4 C\J f-l rH IA C- f\ "tf CO KN r-t ON O r-t IT\ OS o tM IT\ «* CO >* «*\ t«\ •H CO C- c~ r-t CO Sales o^ m a vo c- r- * ON C- O K\ c~ K\ O o CO CO CO CO CO ITN CO C\J c— *\ l/N. CO e\j O c— IT\ CM UA VO v£> .O l-l CVJ CVI rH evi rH r-t r-t ft r4 r-t 0.00 1920 1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 1938 Fig. 4. — Sales and average price per bushel of flaxseed in the United States, 1920-1938. (Sales equal difference between production and amount used for seed. Price weighted by sales in each state.) Data from: United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Agricultural Eco- nomics. Income Parity for Agriculture. Part 1. Farm Income. Sec. 8. Income from Flax- seed, p. 9. July, 1939. (Processed.) 1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 Fig. 5. — Prices received by farmers for flaxseed, wheat, and all farm products, 1910-1938. (Index numbers 1910-1914 = 100.) Data from: Flaxseed Prices and the Tariff, p. 16. 76th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document No. 62. TABLE 26 Estimated Consumption of Oils in the Drying Industries, United States, 1912-1914 and 1925-1937 Calendar year Linseed oil Tung oil Perilla oil Fish oils Soybean oil Other oils* Total Linseed oil as per- centage of total 1912 million pounds 461 603 510 726 714 756 785 789 544 471 354 376 409 465 478 571 million pounds 43 42 30 87 92 85 95 110 100 90 74 102 117 129 121 151 million pounds t § § 6 7 5 2 6 9 11 11 25 24 60 105 39 million pounds 22 11 14 30 18 20 24 21 25 27 20 22 25 32 40 44 million pounds -X 9 12 14 13 18 17 17 million pounds -X 4 3 5 7 9 19 12 million pounds 526 656 554 849 831 866 906 926 678 612 474 544 595 713 780 834 per cent 88 1913 1914 93 92 1925 86 1926 86 1927 87 1928 87 1929 85 1930 80 1931 77 1932 75 1933 69 1934 . 69 1935 1936 65 61 1937 68 * Other oils include hempseed oil, oiticica oil, sunflower oil, castor oil, and miscellaneous. t Imports not reported prior to October, 1913. X Dashes indicate data not available for years prior to 1931. § Less than 500,000 pounds. Source of data: Flaxseed prices and the tariff, p. 25. 76th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document No. 62. TABLE 27 Supplies of Oilseed Cake and Meal, and Feed Grains, United States, 1925-1937 Year* Cotton- seed cake and mealf Linseed cake and mealf Soybean cake and mealj Copra cake and mealf Peanut cake and mealj Total cake and meal Linseed as per- centage of total cake and meal Feed grains§ 1925 1,000 tons 2,192 2,429 1,691 2,048 2,181 2,011 2,281 1,962 1,776 1,633 1.787 2,158 2,739 1,000 tons 478 462 530 476 396 370 222 220 161 222 286 303 206 1,000 tons 28 32 62 91 112 122 132 113 99 287 620 548 732 1,000 tons 93 91 100 115 115 102 79 100 122 116 134 142 123 1,000 tons 12 10 22 17 35 17 13 17 11 49 50 69 52 1,000 tons 2,803 3,024 2,405 2,747 2,839 2,622 2,727 2,412 2,169 2,307 2,877 3,220 3,852 per cen t 17.1 15.3 22.0 17.3 13.9 14 1 8.1 9.1 7.4 9.6 9.9 9 4 5.3 1,000 tons 107,162 1926 98,938 1927 100,054 1928 1929 102,855 95,798 1930 84.966 1931 97,868 1932 113,768 1933 91,720 1934 1935 59,510 90,137 1936 62,720 1937 97,165 * Year beginning October 1. t Production plus imports, less exports. J Production plus imports. § Production of corn and grain sorghums, plus farm stocks of corn, oats, barley, and grain sorghums on October 1. Source of data: Flaxseed prices and the tariff, p. 26. 76th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document No. 62. TABLE 28 Exports and Imports of Linseed Oil and Exports of Linseed Cake and Meal, United States, 1920-1937 Year* Linseed oil Linseed cake and meal exports t Exports Imports 1920 1,000 pounds 4,210 2,744 3,105 2,628 2,405 2,335 2,738 2,221 2,020 2,129 1,298 873 781 696 795 1,022 1,096 821 1,000 pounds 14,974 168,705 56,764 17,840 23,587 16,733 1,331 346 6,677 5,416 256 28 36 10,680 3,086 1,161 452 243 1,000 pounds 391,264 1921 484,059 1922 574.612 1923 560,114 1924 691,126 1925 589,166 1926 625,121 1927 606,304 1928 645,120 1929 624,960 1930 304,640 1931 443,520 1932 1933 241,920 546,560 1934 380, 800 1935 459,200 1936 562,240 1937 557,760 * Year beginning July 1. t Imports of linseed cake and meal are rather small. Source of data: United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Statistics 1939 :433, 467-68. 1939. 38 University op California — Experiment Station TABLE 29 United States Import-Duty Eates on Flaxseed and Linseed Oil, 1897-1930 Year of Tariff Act Flaxseed per bushel* Linseed oil per pound 1897 cents 25 25 20 30 40 56 65 cents 2.67 1909 2.00 1913 1.33 1921 1.33 1922 3.30 1929 3.70 1930t 4 50 * One bushel of flax equals 56 pounds. t 1930 Tariff rates still in force. Source of data: United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Agricultural Econom- ics. Tariff rates on principal agricultural products, p. 19. May 10, 1939. (Mimeo.) 10m-9,'40(6941)