Anyone gearing up for wild ricing? Labor day weekend is usually pretty good timing for a trip. Some years this coming weekend or the weekend after labor day to. So far Ive heard the crop up by Bemidji and Itasca is not great. From what Ive seen around big sandy there is a bumper crop there.
Good luck to those that are going.
Mike do you process your rice your self ?, or do you bring it in? I have been thinking of doing this for years. I would just like to do maybe five gallons, enough for myself and maybe a few packs for Christmas presents for family. There seems to be a bumper crop this year within a mile from my house. I don’t have a canoe just a fishing boat, so I don’t know if it’s possible to do it with a motorized boat. I was thinking I could wade through the rice with chest waders to get my five gallons , you think that’s doable? Thanks .
I’m planning to do some ricing this weekend up north, but my friend will be checking it today to make sure it’s worthy. Otherwise we also plan to harvest over labor day weekend. I’ve heard it’s expected to be a little later than usual due to the late spring, and the crop should be pretty good this year in the Aitkin area. Hopefully that’s true and we can time it right.
Gino,
I can’t speak of what Mike does with his rice, but I think most people take their rice to a few processors in the state. I know there is a processor in Cass Lake that does quite a bit of rice. You cannot use a motorized boat to harvest rice. The watercraft can’t exceed 18′ and can’t be wider than 36″, so basically a canoe, and you need to use a pushpole. There are a number of regulations for harvesting. No, there is no way you’ll be able to get much of anything at all by wading in chest waders, if that’s even possible. It’s a lot of work, it takes practice and it’s great to go with someone who has some experience, but the reward is delicious.
I should. Its thick on my lake. I have to pull it all summer to keep clear around my dock. In that respect I hate the stuff.
We looked at some yesterday but it seemed like lots of the seed pods were empty. I don’t know much about it, maybe that’s normal. The pods that had seeds in them you could sqeeze milk out of them, so I’m guessing it’s not ready yet. I am a noob when it comes to this though.
We take ours in to process. Doesn’t seem to be many processors left around so you want to have that lined up. There is a little prep work involved with ricing. Canoe, push pole, ricing sticks, bags, finding a partner to go with, locating a processor, scouting, harvesting enough rice that the processor will even take, license, beer.
If you are looking to get into ricing might want to find someone experienced to go with 1st. The next month maybe check landings and rice feilds near you and chat up the local guys. It takes 2 people per canoe to go so maybe you might get luck and find someone that needs a partner. To tell you the truth that is part of the reason for this post. We are looking to start ricing around Aitkin and Big Sandy and hoping to work with some locals around there.
We looked at some yesterday but it seemed like lots of the seed pods were empty. I don’t know much about it, maybe that’s normal. The pods that had seeds in them you could sqeeze milk out of them, so I’m guessing it’s not ready yet. I am a noob when it comes to this though.
Im still fairly new to this also. Think maybe 3 seasons under my belt. Our lead guy does the scouting and checking rice. One way he checks is by shaking the stalks into the palm of his hand to see what falls off. Even this can be tricky to judge as it seems to me more rice falls later in the day as to the morning and not all the rice in a crop ripens at the same time. Im glad we got a chief in our crew with many years experience that we can follow his lead.
Alright I’m getting a little excited now , I’ve secured a canoe and a partner, got my license and just finished making a parcher barrel. Barrel is hight adjustable and turns and spins by hand. Hoped it would have tilted up a little more but the barrel sags a little. Going to try to process what we get ourselves.
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Go for it guys!
If I lived much closer to you I’d be throwing in my hat and get involved in this. Sounds like fun and I have interest in the process!
Keep up the progress for a distant amiture looking on.
For about 12 years, my father and I harvested rice in NE Minnesota. I regret having to hang up my pole, but it just became too time-intensive and our processor retired so processing became hard to find within a reasonable driving distance.
One thing that has not been mentioned is that in MN you must buy a license to harvest rice.
There are also rules as to the season-opening date, and restrictions on when you can harvest during each day of the season. Allowable methods are also very specific. Read rules carefully.
I was thinking I could wade through the rice with chest waders to get my five gallons , you think that’s doable? Thanks .
Keep in mind, there is a ratio of green (unprocessed) rice to finished process rice. A 5 gallon bucket of green rice will net you about 1 good meal of finished rice. That’s it.
The ratio varies but we usually figured between 5 and 8 pounds of green to 1 pound of finished dry rice as I recall. I could be wrong about this, but it is a significant reduction.
We looked at some yesterday but it seemed like lots of the seed pods were empty. I don’t know much about it, maybe that’s normal. The pods that had seeds in them you could squeeze milk out of them, so I’m guessing it’s not ready yet. I am a noob when it comes to this though.
Rice ripens from the bottom of the up. It is not all ripe at once, so for that reason, you have to know where on the head to check for near-harvest ripeness. It is therefore possible (and desirable) to “re-run” the tracks you put through the rice ever few days as the rice ripens further. And obviously, be gentle to the rice stalks when harvesting.
Obviously, it is forbidden to harvest rice before season opens. However one can gain a lot of info by canoeing into a rice bed and letting nature tell you if the rice is ready or not. If you know what I mean. Obviously, the results must be returned to the water.
There is definitely a technique to harvesting rice and it’s a team sport.
As the push-pole guy, I stood in the back of the canoe, but an old native guy let me in on the secret–you reverse the canoe. You stand in what would normally be the “bow” between the seat and the point, and push the canoe “backward”. This allows you to brace your forward leg against the forward seat edge, which GREATLY enhances your balance as the push-pole guy.
And balance is key! Tip the canoe and the rice you spent all that time harvesting, sinks, just FYI! My father retired from ricing after he discovered that that a good push-pole guy are hard to find.
We had a bench dad built to go across the middle of the canoe right at the yoke. Dad would sit on the bench and then use his ricing flails to sweep and shake rice into the canoe in front of him.
As another FYI, the canoe gets more unstable as you gather more rice! Many guys, myself included have learned this the hard way by ricing their way across the beds and then having to get all the way back to the landing with a fully laden canoe that is hundreds of pounds heavier and way less stable than when you started. We almost lost a full load once when the wind came up. Things can get very dodgy and great care must be taken because it’s easy to overload a canoe when ricing.
It is great fun and very rewarding. As I said, I wish I had the time and a fellow team member to get back in the game, but also that my balance is not what it was when I was in my teens or twenties, so I suspect I’d quickly prove why in most teams, it’s the younger guy doing the poling.
Grouse
The ratio varies but we usually figured between 5 and 8 pounds of green to 1 pound of finished dry rice as I recall. I could be wrong about this, but it is a significant reduction.
It’s not quite that much of a reduction. I think you can expect around 35-40% return. I have gotten close to 50% one year which was really nice.
Well my fist time ever was a success I think. Me and my daughter hit a local lake today at about nine o’clock and worked at it until noon . It was more work than I thought just pushing the canoe. We ended with around seven gallons, of rice. My wife is taking a turn beating the rice tomorrow.
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Fantastic on giving it a try and getting some rice. What part of the state are you ricing? The rice field in the photo doesn’t look to bad.
Fantastic on giving it a try and getting some rice. What part of the state are you ricing? The rice field in the photo doesn’t look to bad.
there is a few good spots I’ve found around grand rapids. This spot had nice big rice . My wife and I got ten gallons today on the river but I could tell the lake rice was much bigger.
That’s pretty cool!
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Mike W wrote:</div>
Fantastic on giving it a try and getting some rice. What part of the state are you ricing? The rice field in the photo doesn’t look to bad.there is a few good spots I’ve found around grand rapids. This spot had nice big rice . My wife and I got ten gallons today on the river but I could tell the lake rice was much bigger.
How where the rice worms? Im seeing reports there are not many. Typical year the bottom of the boat is moving with them.
Rice worms were nothing like I was warned about. Mostly lady bugs on the lake . On the river no ladybugs but there was some worms not bad though, I’ve been floating them out of the rice with water.
Now I’ve got to build a thrashing machine. It’s coming along , hopefully finish it tomorrow. I don’t dance so that method of getting the hulls off is out !
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Well after a brief scare I decided to parch my rice today. After a few modifications to my barrel I got the hang of it . I could do a gallon and a half at a time and it took 38 minutes a batch or two beers.
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Then I put it through my thrasher I made,and it worked awesome. I made it through twelve gallons before it started raining and shut my operation down.
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Twelve gallons gave me nine pounds. Most of the chaff was removed during thrashing, now I just have a little more finishing to do. Smelled awesome during the thrashing. I parched it over apple wood.
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Very nice.
That’s really cool, Gino. I really admire your ambition and work build the equipment and process your own rice.
I got about 300lbs over the long weekend in the Crow Wing/Cass county area. I think we hit it at a good time, maybe just slightly green still, but still quite good. Finding the time to do it, and hoping it’s ripe at that time is the toughest part. I really can’t complain since it was falling off nicely on the days that worked the best for our schedules. Great weather too and essentially no worms at all, which was really nice.
Dumb question.. Do you need a permit for harvesting?
Yes. Lots of rules to follow also.
Yes. Lots of rules to follow also.
That’s what I figure.
Well third times the charm I guess. I’ve been struggling to come up with a way to clean the rice . It just so has it that you really can find anything on u tube. This was adapted from a bird seed cleaner. I run it through a couple of times and it’s ready for packaging .
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Getting close. Ive made this offer before and Ill make it again. Nobody has taken me up on it. 30 yards in front of my dock is a massive rice field. Near Spooner, Wi. I dont recall anyone every harvesting any there. Looong ways from boat landing. Ill let someone go after it off my shore using my dock if they give me a taste when its processed. I would love to eat some of the rice I have been staring at for years.
Suzuki, if you were closer to me in central MN I would take you up on that. How does the rice look this year over there? It’s real spotty around here. Hope to get a couple hundred pounds this weekend.
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