A rolling landscape of yellow-flowered canola, a bright field of sunflowers, soybeans drying in the September sun, and waving stalks of corn all indicate the vast quantity of vegetable oil consumed in this country.

           Oils are used for frying and baking, and in products from salad dressing to margarine. Still, they have an even longer list of industrial uses, from the ink on this publication to road deicers and bio-diesel fuel. From a dietary perspective, the last 50 years have seen a complete turnover in the source of oils. In 1950 U.S. consumption of vegetable oils was 15.5 pounds per person, in 2000 it was 60.7 pounds. All crops combined, Minnesota produces over one billion pounds of vegetable oil, making it one of the top producers in the U.S.

           Food scientists at the University of Minnesota analyze fatty acids of specific crop varieties, to determine - for example - which future soybean variety produces the healthiest cooking oil. Because of America's great dependence on fried foods, the most desirable oils remain stable longer, even while subjected to high heat.

           A fundamental change occurred in agricultural commodities utilization over the last 50 to 75 years. Crops once used directly as feed, such as corn for pigs, are now broken down into primary components - oil, fiber, and protein - with many markets for each.

           The U of M's long-term investigation of new crops, and new uses for the more common, enables Minnesota farmers and industries to compete nationally and globally. Fifty years ago soybeans and sunflowers were not grown here, but U of M research made it possible. And today, farmers and health-conscious consumers benefit from efforts to improve and expand production of canola.

     

           Flax is a history lesson in itself. It was brought by colonists and planted for fiber to weave into heavy linen clothing. Linseed oil was extracted from the seed and used as a preservative and paint. As America moved west and urbanized, demand for paint jumped and flax production soared. A huge linseed oil and paint industry developed alongside the country's major flax growing areas of Minnesota and the Dakotas. The first manufacturer of prepared paints in the U.S. was in the Twin Cities, and over half of the major paint companies operated here. By the 1940s Minnesota produced half of the country's flax.

           Flax production was critical during both World Wars to make paint for military equipment, and as feed - flax cakes - for livestock overseas in WWI. Flax acreage dropped sharply after WWII and again as synthetic fibers were developed, and almost disappeared by 1980 as latex paint displaced oil-based products. Today, flax is grown on limited acreage, but there is a renewed interest in the fiber for paper making and as a healthy, edible oil, thanks to plant breeders.

           University of Minnesota flax research efforts over the past 110 years reflect society's needs. In 1890, after flax wilt hit the crop several times, the governor appointed the University's botanist and entomologist to, "make all necessary experiments and to find a remedy against this disease." By 1894 one plant that demonstrated resistance was selected, out of thousands evaluated. The progeny was named 'Primost' and released in 1900, the first pure-line flax variety in the U.S. The U of M Agricultural Experiment Station established the world center for flax testing and, until 1972, maintained the thousands of accessions in the world germplasm collection.