South Dakota Farmer Spins Flax Into Gold

ONAKA, S.D. — Rick Heintzman drew wisecracks from other farmers at the South Dakota state fair in the early 1990s. Surrounded by 6,000 bags of flaxseed, he didn’t sell an ounce.

BY PAUL GLADER
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Ten years later, Heintzman is spinning flax into gold. His company, Heintzman Farms, based just outside this hamlet of 30, is one of the largest flaxseed producers in the United States. It sells "Dakota Flax Gold" seeds, "Fairy Flax" snack packets and "Bite Me!" candy bars. The company has its own Web site and ships about 360 tons of flaxseed annually.

The tiny, oval seeds Heintzman harvests have been used since ancient times. The fibrous stalk of the flax plant makes strong rope and fine linen garments, and linseed oil pressed from flaxseed is still found in paint, polishes and animal feeds. But Heintzman owes his newfound riches mostly to health-obsessed Baby Boomers. Research during the past decade indicates that omega-3 fatty acids may be helpful in preventing heart disease, and flax is loaded with the stuff.

Flax is found now in breakfast cereals, waffles, breads, energy bars, chips and cookies. U.S. flax production has soared. In North Dakota, where 95 percent of U.S. flax is grown, nearly 800,000 acres of flax were grown last year, up from 80,000 acres in 1996. "We’re hoping flax is the next soy," says Kaye Effertz, director of a state-funded trade group, Ameriflax.

These days, Heintzman, 54 years old, is reaping the benefits of going against the grain. He has traded in his Ford Aerostar for a Lincoln Navigator (license plates: "Flaxmon") and jets off to small sales offices he has set up in Brazil, Florida and California. He wears Italian dress shoes and black leather jackets on his farm. One of his brochures features him posing in a field of flax, wearing a tuxedo with a bottle of Champagne at his side.

A third-generation grain farmer and rancher, he was first drawn into the market by news of a new, golden flaxseed developed in 1989 at North Dakota State University. He liked the color — the seed was lighter than the traditional brown seeds, which some people say resemble wood ticks — and bought some to plant. He harvested 400 acres from the experimental seeds, and ended up with piles of golden flaxseed.

A year later, while in Washington to file for patents on farm-machinery inventions, Heintzman noticed people eating granola bars and other health snacks. "I’ve got eight semi-loads of seeds waiting back at my place," he remembers thinking, "and that’s what I’m going to feed ’em."

Relatives and neighbors doubted him at first. "I didn’t think he would do too well," says Ralph Malson, 79, another farmer from Onaka. But today Malson marvels at the fancy new farm equipment at the Heintzman farm. "He’s done pretty good with it," he says.

Heintzman Farms is uncomplicated: Heintzman’s two sons harvest the crops. Twenty employees, including relatives and local farm wives, package and ship the various products from a steel shed, where five cats scout for rodents. Unlike other flax farmers who sell flax in bulk, Heintzman sells to customers directly through his Web site and direct-mail promotions. His 1998 IRS statement says he grossed $1.6 million, a figure he says will rise to more than $3 million this year.

He sells flaxseed in bright yellow bags printed with his own homespun sayings, such as "Just for the well of it!" Some seed bags bear recipes for such fare as "Phlax Pancakx" and "Rick’s Quick Fix 25G Power Slammer," which consists of fruit juice and five level teaspoons of ground flax. Sitting in his blue farmhouse, Heintzman describes new ideas — such as marketing buffalo meat and American Indian teas — with the phrase, "It’s just killer!"

But some of his claims have drawn criticism from competitors and researchers. For example, one article first published in a newsletter to customers two years ago and still carried on his Web site, recommends his seeds for "high cholesterol, hypertension, triglycerides, allergies, asthma, ADD, PMS, over- and under- thyroid activity, diabetes, arthritis and cancer." He says he has conducted his own research supporting some of these claims.

At North Dakota State University, which is now developing flax pasta and flax ice cream, researchers endorse flax as a preventative only, not a treatment.

A few years ago, Heintzman clashed with a university-based group of scientists, researchers and farmers called the Flax Institute. In a Fargo hotel, Heintzman tried to videotape academic presentations for his flax promotions. Jack Carter, professor emeritus in the department of plant sciences, ordered him to stop, arguing that Heintzman was a farmer, not a news reporter. Heintzman says he protested and reached to pull out an old press pass.

Poppycock, says Carter. "It was a wad of bills in his pocket. He said that was his press pass," Carter recalls. "I told him to ‘get the hell out of here,’ and he did." Heintzman says he had an outdated press pass from videotaping a food convention years ago and that it was wrapped in a money clip with a wad of bills. "It was not a bribe," he says. "I would never even consider bribing anyone." The two men haven’t spoken to each other since.

Across the border in Canada, where 1.5 million acres of mostly brown flax is grown, some flax farmers are chafed about Heintzman’s claims that his golden flax tastes better than brown flax. The Flax Council, a Canadian trade group, monitors Heintzman’s literature, tests his flax samples and keeps a dossier on him.

U.S. researchers almost unanimously agree that there is no nutritional or chemical difference between brown and golden flax.

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jan/01052003/business/17249.asp