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Western Canada has large acreage of oilseed flax, but unfortunately a small percentage of total crop residue (flax straw) produced annually is being commercially used. Therefore, farmers are still burning the flax straw. Flax fiber and straw has highest strength amongst the different natural fibers, therefore, the prospect of using them as biorenewable reinforcement in recycled/ virgin polymer matrices has gained attention in recent years. Flax strawboard has a potential to replace the currently used wood and other crop like wheat/barley straw boards for different industrial application. In this research Oilseed flax straw reinforced composite boards were developed using flax shives with biopolymer binder made out of recycled/ pure thermo plastic and flax fiber. Some advantages of such materials are high strength, low density, good insulation capacity against heat and moisture transfer, and biodegradability.

Most fertilizer application systems are not capable of variable rate adjustments “on-the-fly”. To change the application rate, the farmer must dismount the tractor and change the gear ratio mechanically (i.e. via gears, chains, etc.). Air seeder manufacturers have come up with their own unique solutions to address this problem, usually involving electrohydraulics. At present there are older seeding units that perform adequately, but do not have the variable rate option. A retrofit is therefore very desirable for these units. In this paper, the feasibility of a simple hydraulic proportional valve and variable speed motor circuit is employed to replace the gears and chains. The unit is integrated with a microcontroller to provide compensation to the nonlinear properties of a proportional valve, and in turn provide a very accurate feedrate. In addition, direct user input from the cab of the tractor is possible, allowing on-the-go rate changes.