Southern Kentucky is home to a crop you dont typically see grow in the U.S. [Video]

FRANKLIN, Ky. (WBKO) – Chia fields are a rare commodity in the U.S. as the crop typically thrives in warmer climates, with most imports coming from South America.

In the early 2000s, area farmers collaborated with the University of Kentucky, researching to find a method to grow chia locally.

Through breeding work, they discovered lines of an “early flowering” chia plant that can produce seeds in Kentucky and parts of the Midwest.

“There’s never been any chia grown in the US because it wouldn’t grow here,” said Founder of Heartland Chia Chris Kummer. “So, what we’re growing and the farmers we work with, it’s really the only US-grown chia and we’re working to develop and expand that with other growers and build the market.”

Heartland Chia is a trailblazer in the market of U.S.-grown chia, being the first ever local chia in the midwestern U.S.

Early flowering chia is an annual summer plant that gets seeded in the spring, grows throughout the summer, …