Wisconsin’s wild rice harvest is expected to be up this year

Wisconsin Public Radio · Danielle Kaeding · September 8, 2026

Wisconsin is set for an increase this year in its wild rice harvest.

Wild rice, or manoomin in the Ojibwe language, is culturally significant to northern Wisconsin tribes. Tribal leaders and the state’s Wild Rice Stewardship Council gathered recently at the powwow grounds of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to kick off the first “Wild Rice Week” in Wisconsin.

Former Bad River Tribal Chair Mike Wiggins Jr. told the group the grounds are a sacred spot where tribal members send drumbeats down to the heart of Mother Earth to give thanks for wild rice.

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“Manoomin, the food that grows on the water, it is the reason we’re here as Ojibwe in the Great Lakes,” Wiggins said.

He relayed how the Council of the Three Fires , which represented the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi tribes, migrated to the Lake Superior region centuries ago in search of the place where “the food grows on water.”

The reservation is home to the Kakagon-Bad River Sloughs, which supports the largest natural wild rice bed in the Great Lakes basin. The more than 16,000-acre complex comprises more than half the coastal wetlands on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Superior.

Wiggins said it’s been a great year for harvesting wild rice on the reservation.

“It’s been really awesome seeing a lot of our tribal members return with good harvests,” Wiggins said.

The wild rice crop has been better than average in the area, said Miles Falck, who supervises the manoomin team for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, or GLIFWC.

“I think the lack of rain late in summer has contributed to lower water levels in northern Wisconsin, and so that’s benefiting rice,” Falck said.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has said heavy rainfall in April followed by drought has created stable cond itions for the plant to grow. Wild rice is sensitive to any sudden increase in water levels when it’s in the floating leaf stage in early summer. Other threats include shoreline development, pollution and climate change that’s driven more frequent intense storms, such as one that flooded the reservation in 2016.

Each fall, GLIFWC conducts voluntary surveys after the wild rice harvest. In 2025, around 7,900 pounds of wild rice was harvested across 50 waterways compared to roughly 5,500 pounds on 54 waterways in 2024. In 2023, tribal members harvested nearly 16,800 pounds on 70 waterways as the state saw nearly record dry conditions from May through August.

Last year, Gov. Tony Evers created the Wild Rice Stewardship Council, which promotes protection of wild rice. He told the group it’s more than just a crop.

“It’s an important part of faith, food security, and culture,” Evers said. “The long-established practice of wild rice stewardship in our state, most especially by Indigenous leaders, is something we’re celebrating and protecting.”

Falck and tribal officials hope the council can raise awareness about steps people can take to protect the crop and ensure its survival, such as avoiding the use of fertilizers or herbicides near the water’s edge. Lac du Flambeau Tribal President John Johnson, a council member, said he hopes they can work together to bring back wild rice where it no longer grows.

“There are a lot of lakes (where wild rice has) died out,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to replenish those in the future.”

The DNR has also been putting up signs in state parks to educate people when wild rice is growing and how to protect it, said DNR Secretary Karen Hyun.

“I think if we had a little bit more authority to protect, and a little bit more funding that the tribes need to restore and create the conditions, we could do a lot of good,” Hyun said, noting that may include stricter penalties for those who damage wild rice.

During the event, groups of around a dozen people boarded boats that toured the Kakagon Sloughs. As they glided through the wetland complex, Angelina Godinez, the tribe’s deputy director of natural resources, said harvesting wild rice is a way to hold onto their traditions and sense of identity.

“It’s also good to eat,” Godinez said. “We have it for feasts, funerals, celebrations. It’s a big way of bringing people together.”

Back at the powwow grounds, Red Cliff tribal elder Mark Duffy offers demonstrations on harvesting wild rice. At a display table, he points to cedar sticks about 3 ft. long. One is used to bend stalks over a harvester’s boat or canoe, and the other is used to “knock” the rice into the bottom of the boat. Then, the rice is dried out on a tarp before it’s parched in a metal tub to further dry the rice and loosen the hulls.

After that, Duffy said the rice is ready to be processed by “dancing” on it. Traditionally, tribal members use special moccasins to dance on the rice.

“As you dance on it, what you’re doing is rolling the rice around down there,” Duffy explained. “So, like what they’re doing with the moccasin, you’re rolling that rice against the moccasin against each other, and it breaks the husks off them.”

However, technology has changed, and Duffy has a machine called a “thrasher” that separates the rice from the husks. When that’s done, a shallow flat winnowing basket is used to toss the rice into the air, and the wind separates loose husks from the rice. If he has help, Duffy said roasting, dancing and winnowing about 50 pounds can be done in one day. But, he said the finishing process of hand-picking remaining husks or debris can take much longer.

One of his fondest memories is cleaning rice with Red Cliff elders.

“That was a big bonus to have the elders around there picking through that rice and sharing stories and regenerating themselves, bringing them back to their childhood when they had to do this,” Duffy said.

People can find a list of which wild rice waters are open or closed for the season, as well as harvest regulations, on GLIFWC’s website .

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