Hello all. Member for a while, not real active, but I do lurk lol.

Question for any of you who have harvested wild rice in Minnesota. I swore I read somewhere that there were places in Mn that would process the wild rice you harvested for a fee or share of what you got. Is there such a service? We are looking to hit an area 20 miles NW of Duluth. Any info you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Todd

There are quite a few operations that will process it. Gibbs in Deer River used to, but I am not sure anymore. Go to the website and Google MN Wild Rice Processors. My friend picks like 2000-3000 pounds a year and gets it processed. He is probably the #1 or #2 wild rice picker in the state. Brainerd area to Big Sandy area is blessed with the best rice in the state.

Always bring ours to cass lake. If you ever get a chance to see a wild rice processing plant do it. There are no places that make wild rice processing equipment so each place is different. A sort of Rube Goldberg affair.

If I remember right we had to bring at least 500 lbs of green rice to the place to get our own rice back. Evidently that was the smallest run they would process.

The last year I did , myself(36 now) and my ricing partner (72 years old then) brought in 2,500 lbs.

Have fun and keep your mouth closed while picking. If you get a rice beard stuck in your throat it really sucks. Oh, and I hope you're comfortable being covered in worms and spiders.

Advice,

Duct tape your pants around your shoes. Keeps the bugs out.

Wear long sleeves and pants no matter how hot it is.

Wear glasses to protect your eyes from flying rice.

Clean the canoe and the bottoms of your shoes prior to picking. The processors don't like rocks in the rice.