Wild rice outlook appears more promising than in recent years

For the first time in a few years, the wild rice crop is showing improvements in production.

The Wisconsin DNR released an outlook Thursday for the upcoming season.

Spring began with heavy rainfall across northern Wisconsin in April, followed by a pattern of drought through the summer.
This created relatively stable conditions for wild rice throughout the growing station.

This also means people should watch out for their canoes bottoming out or hitting hazards in the low water levels.

The DNR says while wild rice crop production is generally better this year, experienced harvesters should not expect to see crops that they saw decades ago.

There is a long-term trend of declining wild rice production in Wisconsin due to factors such as climate change, poor land and water use, and water quality issues.

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Wild rice grows in shallow waterways in the Great Lakes region and parts of Canada. It’s a plant that holds important ecological and cultural significance, but it’s been on the decline since the early 1900s.

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Peak maturity for most wild rice beds occurs in early September.

The Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission maintains the Annual Harvest Outlook webpage, which includes helpful information for harvesters and wild rice production conditions for some wild rice waters in Wisconsin. This page also includes a table of date-regulated wild rice harvesting waters, which may be opened to harvest on designated dates or deemed closed to harvest throughout the season. These rules apply to both tribal and nontribal harvesters. State and tribal officials discuss crop conditions for each waterbody before decisions are made to open or close waters for harvest each year.

Openings and closures will be updated daily on the webpage throughout the harvest season. Harvesters may also sign up for email updates from the DNR to receive the latest information on harvest openings and closures throughout the season.

In 2026, Wisconsin is celebrating the first-ever Wild Rice Week, Aug. 30 to Sept. 6, to raise awareness around wild rice. Found only in the upper Midwest and parts of Canada, wild rice was once abundant in northern Wisconsin and continues to hold a timeless, unchanging place in the culture, identity and spirituality for many Tribal Nations in Wisconsin.

For more information on harvesting wild rice, licensing and regulations, visit the DNR’s Wild Rice Harvesting webpage.