Hot weather bad for firefighting, good for wild rice

Water levels have been this low before, according to Riese, but rain has usually followed, flooding their crops.

“We’ve had three years of [rice] shortages but this year I expect it to be a good year,” said Riese.

He said fires don’t affect wild rice unless fires burn harvesters’ boats.

Still, it did affect crops. Growth was slowed down when air conditions were smoky. Riese said the crops need ultraviolet rays in order to grow, which is why they can’t grow in dark water.

“It’s sunlight that gives it the energy that it needs to grow,” said Riese. “In clear water you can grow it pretty deep because the sun goes through.”

If it doesn’t rain too much, he said, “We’ll have a really good crop this year.”

This goes for wild rice crops all across Canada, according to Riese.

“I’ve talked to everybody that’s in the business and we’ve all got the same report,” Riese said.

Low water levels mean crops can grow between 8 inches and 42 inches, ideally.

Riese said they don’t plant the rice crops each year, but once they’re planted they depend on weather conditions.

“When they get enough sunlight, they’ll come up,” said Riese.

Riese said he’s expecting a better than average rice crop. Right before fires were at their worst around La Ronge, Riese flew over the crops.

“We did a four hour recognisance flight and man oh man it was good,” said Riese. “My own rice is excellent, and a lot of my growers’ [rice].”

Still, fires have definitely taken a hit to the economy in the North, he said.

“It’s bad for us, period,” said Riese. “Small businesses, it really got them, myself even.”

“We export a lot of wild rice and we do the packaging and trading out of La Ronge and we couldn’t get the wild rice sent out.”

He said their shipment out on Monday will be the first in weeks.

Riese said he uses the local ambience to sell the wild rice to people outside of the area. This strategy will likely be one of the past now that the scenery has burnt.

“Ever small business is negatively affected,” said Riese.

asoloducha@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alex_soloducha

by Alex Soloducha

Hot weather bad for firefighting, good for wild rice

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