Grainswest - Fall 2021

Fall 2021 grainswest.com 17 FEATURE New processors manufacture hope for high-fibre straw BY GEOFF GEDDES airytale characters spin straw into gold, but could demand for wheat straw create a gold rush for farmers? The question has arisen with the recent announcement of the $800 million Great Plains MDF facility in the hamlet of Equity, in Kneehill County. The plant will process wheat straw to produce medium density fibreboard (MDF) products such as furniture, panelling, flooring and kitchen cabinets. This and a similar project proposed for Regina, SK, are expected to boost the long-term demand for wheat straw and provide a marketing opportunity for farmers. To calculate the economics and agronomic impact is a more complex task than one might imagine. “The downside of exporting wheat straw from fields is that we want to keep the soil as healthy as possible, and one way of doing that is to return as much organic matter as possible to that soil,” said Ross McKenzie, a retired agronomy research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Nutrients are retained with the straw when it is not removed. It also protects against soil erosion caused by wind and water. There may also be instances where extracting wheat straw makes sense. “For example, when you have a four-year crop rotation of wheat, canola, barley and peas, you could take the straw from wheat every four years and still retain straw and residue from the other three crops,” said McKenzie. “This would minimize the impact and even have some positive effects, especially in areas like central and north-central Alberta where some farmers have problems with too much residue in their fields and no shortage of soil organic matter.” Southern Alberta tends to have drier conditions, less soil organic matter and more wind erosion, so wheat straw removal may be less feasible in that region. Though limiting the frequency of straw extraction is an option, some feel the sale of straw is at best a losing proposition. “Why make fibreboard out of something that contains nutrients rather than from wood?” said Ieuan Evans, a forensic plant pathologist based in Edmonton. “If I strip bark from a tree, it is pure cellulose carbohydrate, and has no nutrients. On the other hand, two tons of straw contain 30 pounds of nitrogen, 65 pounds of potash and seven pounds of sulfur, as well as phosphate.” In crunching the numbers, Evans calculated farmers take about $68 worth of nutrients from the field in two tons of wheat straw, and sell it for $10 to $15 per 800-pound bale. “When you add it all up, growers should probably apply for charitable status, as they are giving away their straw and seeing no return, or even suffering a loss,” said Evans. “Also, keep in mind that a well-strawed field could give you an extra two or three bushels of wheat or canola, as that straw holds water and