Wild rice growers compete in big business

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It's hard to beat big business, but Saskatchewan wild rice growers are holding their own against competition giants in the U.S.

Grown mainly north of Prince Albert, wild rice has been an economic resource for many Aboriginal communities.

The Lac La Ronge Band is one of many who have tapped into the market as risky as land farming.

La Ronge Band-owned Lac La Ronge Industries has weathered a decades-old low price for green wild rice that has hovered around $.70 per pound while the costs for seeding, harvesting and especially transportation have steadily risen.

Company manager Wally Parada said the low pay and high competition from paddy-grown wild rice in Minnesota and California has hit producers hard.

"Some of these lakes are only accessible by air and that really raises your transportation costs. It used to be a really good business and people were making good money at it, but now it's really gone down."

He said the US has an advantage with the paddy method and long growing season.

"They can guarantee delivery of a certain number of pounds and their volume says they can sell for around $.20-$.30 a pound. We can't compete with that."

He said growers have no legislation protecting them from the unequal footing their competition has U.S. customers.

La Ronge Industries employs up to 30 people during harvest and at one time had a fleet of boats for contractors to go out and harvest the rice. The high operating costs now demand that contractors supply their own boats although the company still keeps a number of boats for harvest use.

A processing plant located in the La Ronge industrial district processes about one and a half million pounds of wild rice between August and October.

Saskatchewan Agriculture agrologist Jerry Ivanachko, says there are around 200 wild rice producers in the province and over half of those have treaty status and produce from First Nations-designated land. Between 75-80% of all Saskatchewan producers are of Aboriginal ancestry.

Ivanachko said the large North American and European markets gobble up all the wild rice they produce. Grey Owl Marketing Co. Ltd. in St. Albert, formed by Saskatchewan Indian bands 15 years ago, is one of the larger marketing agencies of Aboriginally-grown wild rice.

"In Canada we grow three and a half millions pounds of wild rice and over half of that comes from Saskatchewan. The US grows over 30 million pounds, mostly in California but their's is a blend of rices and not the same as ours here."

Ivanachko said new players are coming on stream as Indian bands diversify in economic development projects. "Wild rice is the only native cereal and Canadians like it. It can be a viable crop and right now we have a lot of new producers in the Meadow Lake area and around Waterhen and Canoe Narrows. Some of them are quite large and able to produce up to 50,000 pounds a year," he said.

Last year's provincial harvest weighed in between 200,000-250,000.

Wild rice has been enjoyed by Canadians since its early settlement. Centuries ago explorers entering the northern lake states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and parts of neighbouring Ontario and Manitoba, were introduced to an aquatic grain-wild rice. Wars that lasted hundreds of years were fought between some tribes over disputed rights to prime wild rice stands.

The crop has been successfully grown in Saskatchewan since the 1920's when it was brought in from eastern Canada as muskrat food to increase muskrat populations for trappers.

Today wild rice remains a highly desired commodity. Nutritional analysis shows that wild rice is low in calories and fat, yet high in fibre, iron and good-quality protein. It also contains a wide variety of minerals and vitamins.