Harvesting and producing some of Minnesota’s best wild rice

Wild rice harvesting and producing is a Minnesota tradition that has been slow fading. However, for five friends in Backus it’s still a fun way to spend a couple of weekends outside.
After a weekend of processing the guys can turn about 800 pounds of harvested rice and turn it into over 500 pounds of edible rice. Most of the guys give their share of the rice away as gifts. But they all agree their way produces the best tasting rice.
The men say it takes the rice about thirty minutes to go through their process before it’s ready to be packaged and cooked.
All five men are retired and they say harvesting and producing the wild rice gives them a fun chance to hangout together and enjoy another part of Minnesota’s wilderness.