Hand dried wild rice

Wild rice in Northern Minnesota is by law picked exclusively by Native Americans and then hand dried on this family farm using the original fire and constant movement method.

Minnesota's Wild Side

In Northeastern Minnesota there is a family run wild rice processing barn. This image shows the processing of the rice after it was harvested and then fed into the the big black drum. A fire is started under the drum and the rice is slowly spun around until it is evenly and perfectly dried. It then is moved into a machine that removes the husks and sifts the sand or other non-rice particles so that the rice can be bagged. All of the wild rice that is processed here has been harvested by local Indians in Ponsford, Minnesota. Delicious!