Heartland Chia: Cultivating a new Crop Opportunity
As a 4th generation grain farmer and entrepreneur, Chris Kummer knows that newcrop enterprises take time to develop, so after more than five years of productionand market research he is excited to launch his newest venture, Heartland Chia. Heartland Chia's story begins with the early flowering chia plant developed andpatented by Dr. Tim Philips and Dr. David Hildebrand with the University of Kentucky.
"Drs. Tim Philips and David Hildebrand were using traditional plant breeding techniques to develop a 100% non-GMO early flowering chia," said Kummer. "I was aware that they were working on this, so I asked them to let me know when theywere ready to do a farm trial. We grew three acres in 2011 just to evaluate the crop, and the following year we produced the first commercial crop of early flowering chia ever grown anywhere in the world in one of our fields in Simpson County.”
Kummer secured the only license to grow and sell the patented early flowering chia seed in the commercial marketplace after his first commercial crop in 2012. Heartland Chia was established in 2014 with the objective of developing this crop opportunity for farmers while benefiting consumers, food and feed companies with a reliable, local, traceable supply of chia.
"Chia is an ancient grain and is considered a super food because of its nutritional value. There is growing demand for the grain as an ingredient in mainstream food products due to the fact it is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, insoluble fiber, protein, and minerals," explained Kummer. "I knew if the early flowering chia grew in our climate we had the potential to develop something really nice for farmers and be the first US source for this ancient grain.”
Heartland Chia offers a closed loop production system for the early flowering chia plant, assuring buyers of a reliable, domestic source for the product. Heartland provides the seed and production advice necessary for growers to successfully produce early flowering chia in the United States. They then work with the grower on the harvesting and marketing of the chia that is produced to the food and feed industry.
Kummer turned to the staff at KCARD for assistance in the design of the business and management plan for Heartland Chia. "I had worked with KCARD in the past on a project and I knew that they could bring a unique insight to the development of the project," said Kummer.
"Along with consulting with Chris on various aspects of Heartland Chia's business development, we also reviewed his company's applications for a Kentucky Agriculture Development Fund grant and a Value-Added Producer Grant," said Brent Lackey, KCARD Business Specialist.
Kummer was awarded an Ag Development Fund grant and a Value-Added Producer grant to contract with a consultant who specializes in food ingredients to conduct a study on the market development and feasibility of processing chia for seed, oil, meal, and flour.
"It is the collaboration with UK on the production side and KCARD on the business development side that has helped us to be way ahead of where we thought we would be when we licensed this product three years ago," explained Kummer.
Kummer is now focusing his time on marketing Heartland Chia beyond the farm. He points out that the key to developing farmer opportunities with the new crop is to develop the connections with food producers to provide a market for chia. Kummer explains that the high level of traceability and the quality control process provided by Heartland Chia's closed loop system is a unique selling point as it provides food companies and ultimately consumers a high quality domestic supply of chia.
"This closed loop production model allows for us to provide the management needed to ensure optimum quality, testing, and control of the finished product," explained Kummer. "Food safety is the main priority from planting until it leaves our control on a truck to the customer. Food companies that purchase from Heartland Chia will know they are dealing directly with the producers of these quality chia seeds.”
Prior to the work done by Kummer and the researchers at the University of Kentucky, Salvia hispanica, commonly known as chia, had traditionally only been grown in tropical and subtropical climates due to the long lifecycle of the plant. The only success most people had found growing chia in the US was on the decorative "Chia Pets" popular on late night television commercials.
"Chia in not a flash in the pan product, it is an ancient grain and a super food seed source," explained Kummer. "The health benefits of the grain have been known for centuries, but its use in health food products in the US has really taken off in the last 10 to 15 years. It is now being widely used in mainstream food products and is can also be used in animal feed.”
While the chia grain might be new to farmers in the US, Kummer believes that grain farmers will adapt quickly to growing the early flowering chia.
"It has a lifecycle like a soybean, and would fit nicely as a second crop following wheat," said Kummer "Also traditional equipment can be used for production, so farmers would not have to invest in additional equipment.”
Kummer intends for the innovative spirit that inspired Dr. Philips and Dr. Hildebrand to continue as the operation grows. He plans to continue to focus on research and development every year to improve growing practices of this new variety of chia. He also intends to continue to research opportunities for on-farm processing of the grain, while growing the markets for the products.
"I feel honored Philips and Hilebrand let me work with them and license the product. Our work doesn't stop with the licensing though; we intend to develop Heartland Chia for the benefit of farmers and food manufacturers," said Kummer. "Heartland Chia is farmer owned company, working with farmers, to produce a 100 percent non-GMO US grown chia. I can't wait to see where the next five years take us on this journey.”
To learn more about Heartland Chia visit the website at www.heartlandchia.com