AN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF WILD RICE
                       Executive Summary

Wild rice is an annual, cross-pollinated plant that grows in
flooded soils.  Plants normally reach five to six feet in height
and produce multiple tillers, or stems.  The stems are hollow,
except at the nodes where the leaves, roots, and flowers appear. 
The plant has a shallow root system with a lateral spread of 8 to
12 inches.

Wild rice seed is similar to the grain of cereals, such as wheat
and oats.  Immature seeds are green, but turn a purple-black
color as they reach maturity.  Seeds on any given stem mature at
different times, and on the secondary stems, they mature later
than on the main stems.  Early-maturing seeds are very prone to
shattering (dropping from the seed head) before the later-maturing seeds ripen.

Approximately 99 percent of the cultivated wild rice grown in the
U.S. is produced in California and Minnesota.  The remainder is
produced in Idaho, Wisconsin, and Oregon.  Minnesota's cultivated
wild rice is produced primarily on the north-central peatlands.  
California's wild rice acreage is divided among three distinct
climatic regions: the rice-producing areas in the Sacramento
Valley; areas surrounding Clear Lake in Lake County; and the
mountain valleys in northeastern California.

Wild rice farming in the Sacramento Valley differs markedly from
wild rice farming in Minnesota.  The most important differences
are that Sacramento Valley farmers seed annually and have fewer
disease problems than Minnesota producers.  Although California's
practice of annual reseeding is expensive, it prevents the yield
declines which occur in Minnesota, where volunteer wild rice in
succeeding years causes overcrowding of plant stands.  

Although there are no official USDA estimates of Minnesota's wild
rice area, analysts familiar with the industry agree that the
state has nearly twice as much acreage as California.  The most
commonly cited figure for 1995 is "about 17,000" acres.  The
California Wild Rice Advisory Board, on the other hand, reported
8,978 acres of wild rice in California in 1995. 

The U.S. produces 10-12 million pounds (processed weight) of
cultivated wild rice annually.  Although Minnesota has the larger
acreage, production is divided about equally between California
and Minnesota.  Growers in California obtain higher yields per
acre and a higher percentage recovery of "finished" (processed)
wild rice per pound of "green" (unprocessed) yield than growers
in Minnesota.  One source reported 5.3 million pounds of finished
output for Minnesota in 1994, and 5.0 million pounds for
California. 

Wild rice is adapted to cool climates.  It yields poorly in the
southern United States, where extreme heat and shorter summer-time day lengths accelerate plant development and maturation,
lessening seed production.  In addition, the high humidity in the
South favors the develop of leaf diseases, such as brown spot.

Virtually all wild rice is grown in flooded fields.  The soil
needs to be saturated from the time the seeds germinate in the
spring until 2-3 weeks before harvest.  The water depth during
the first 8-10 weeks after germination needs to be held at a
constant level to assure vigorous plant growth.  Variable water
depths during this period may uproot young plants or result in
weak stems that lodge during water drawdown.

Wild rice may be either spring- or fall-planted in Minnesota.  In
California, seeding is done in the spring, except in some of the
higher elevations, where planting may also occur in the fall. 
Annual reseeding in the spring is required in the Sacramento
Valley because the paddies do not remain moist over the winter.

Production perils are generally of more concern in Minnesota than
in California.  Major causes of low wild rice yields include
inadequate water with which to flood the paddies; uncontrolled
flooding that washes out dikes and destroys young plants; wind
storms which increase shattering and cause lodging; and hot,
humid conditions which promote leaf diseases.  Yield losses from
most other perils usually do not reach an economic threshold. 

Disaster assistance payments for wild rice losses totaled $3.2
million over the 1988-94 period.  The largest payments were made
in 1988, at $1.7 million.  These large payments were due to
drought, which prevented adequate flooding of the paddies,
particularly in Minnesota.  Across the 1988-94 period, Minnesota
received 80 percent of the total payments, while California
growers collected 14 percent.

There is likely to be substantial demand among wild rice growers
for crop insurance, especially in Minnesota.  This is because
crop failures are frequent in that state due to adverse weather
conditions.  Drought, flooding, and wind storms all hold the
potential for causing various degrees of crop failure in
Minnesota.  In addition, long periods of warm, wet weather can
exacerbate yield losses due to leaf diseases.

There is likely to be less demand for wild rice crop insurance in
California than in Minnesota.  California growers are less likely
to experience crop failures due to drought, and leaf diseases
have not been a source of major yield losses.  In addition,
flooding is less likely to cause production losses in California
than in Minnesota.