Wild rice is a major agricultural export in northern Saskatchewan. (Submitted photo/Sacha Poirier)

By Derek Cornet

agriculture

Poor season for wild rice in northern Sask.

Sep 29, 2022 | 2:55 PM

Wild rice in the north-central portion of the province, including La Ronge, hasn’t been good this season.

That’s according to Jenna Roberts, who harvests wild rice on Bigstone Lake. She explained she only harvested 60 per cent of the amount of rice that she did in 2021.

“The rice was not good this year,” Roberts said. “The weather played a big factor. Last year, we had a big snowfall, so there was lots of water and the water level was high. It depends on the weather. The wind, rain and hail, sun, it all plays a big role with it growing.”

Jenna Roberts didn’t harvest as much wild rice as she did last year. (Submitted photo/Jenna Roberts)

Roberts has been harvesting wild rice since 2001 and she has been doing it alone for the last three years. She said while it can be profitable, harvesting rice is more of a tradition for her that was past down from her father, the late Tom Charles.

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Roberts began harvesting in early September and it took about two and a half weeks to complete. She noted previous years were better than this year.

“The last two years were really good,” Roberts said. “We had a low water level, so it helped the rice grow a lot more.”

The water level is key when it comes to specific growing periods for wild rice. For instance, 36 inches of water is the ideal level when it first starts out, so sunlight can reach the bottom of the plant and germinate the seeds. It’s also crucial when the plant reaches the floating-leaf stage at the end of June when there is the potential for the plant to rip from the roots and die.

Northern Lights Food owner Jean Poirier also told larongeNOW the wild rice harvest has been poor in the region. He is one of six or seven buyers in northern Saskatchewan and he believes the entire area will pull in about one million pounds of rice.

Wild rice is grown throughout northern Saskatchewan. (Submitted photo/Sacha Poirier)

“What happened is the fact that the month of May was cold,” Poirier said. “The month of June was cool and July has provided too much rain, so the wild rice drowned in the biggest parts of the lakes. There was only a few feet of rice on each side.”

Poirier also explained the market for wild rice is becoming temporarily smaller. He mentioned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have made Europeans weary of purchasing expensive food products, adding there have also been difficulties with the Asian market as well.

“The Asian market is still going to support us this year I think, but for me, it went down by at least one-third,” Poirier said. “Some new customers are playing the trick with the prices in China. They did not pay for it 100 per cent and now they are trying to negotiate a better price.”

–

derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno