Linum usitatissimum

Flax

An annual 0.3-1 m high that is grown for its fibre and oil. The straw is sometimes fed to livestock. If mature and of good quality, it has about the same feed value as oat or barley straw. It can be used safely as the only roughage for cattle. The fibres are digested like other fibrous materials and do not form indigestible balls in the stomach.

Green flax straw should be fed with caution because it may contain poisonous amounts of prussic acid. The danger is greater if the immature flax is frozen. Regrowth after harvest can be unsafe as pasture because it may contain toxic quantities of prussic acid.

Flax feed is the residue of the plant after separation of the bast fibre and flax shives. It consists of the leaves, corticle tissues, flaxseed bolls and broken immature seeds of flax.

					As % of dry matter
				DM	CP	CF	Ash	EE	NFE	Ca	P	Ref
Straw, Israel				92.3	7.6	36.5	6.2	6.1	43.6		0.03	365
Flax, plant feed,
USA				92.1	10.1	36.3	6.6	3.1	43.9			349
							Digestibility (%)
					Animal		CP	CF	EE	NFE	ME	Ref
Straw					Sheep		20.0	31.0	40.0	52.0	1.48	365