My history in wild rice is, well, my Dad started the wild rice business back in probably late 70s, early 80s. He started farming wild rice, he started off with ten bags. He got them from a promotion for people who wanted to get into wild rice and people were given a chance to do that, and got about ten bags of rice to seed each. That’s how it got all started.
At the time my Dad got it going, I’d go in and give him a hand whenever I had a chance. I always had another job on the side, I worked for ten years as fire protection worker, and I then I got into health care in 1986 and I’m still there.
As my dad aged, and he couldn’t do it anymore, that’s when I got into it. I’ve been in wild rice for close to twenty years now. I do it more as a family business, I ask my boys or grandkids if they are interested, they come out there and give me a hand, and if it’s a good year, with lots of rice for harvest, usually I’ll hire one or two people on the side.
NWC Wild Rice is a good thing, to see somebody that knows that what it takes to farm wild rice, and you know, give us a good offer for our rice. Before for years, I’ve been selling to other buyers, with lots of ups and downs. Another good thing with NWC Wild Rice is dealing with your own people, within our area, not outsiders you know, that give you the run-around. That’s how I look at it.
And it’ll get better, you always learn from the bottom up, you always learn from mistakes, and there is always room for improvement.
