Godward Wild Rice Farms in Minnesota: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Godward Wild Rice Farms in Aitkin County, Minnesota, grows cultivated wild rice and soybeans and traces its start to 1950, a date trade coverage ties to the first cultivated wild rice paddy in the state. A University of Minnesota Extension Farm Family of the Year feature, reported by Farm Progress in 2021, describes it as the largest wild rice farm in Aitkin County, now worked by a fourth generation.
| Location | Aitkin County, Minnesota (Farm Bureau coverage lists fields near Crosslake, Aitkin and Palisade) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1950, as published by Minnesota Farm Bureau and Farm Progress |
| Sectors | Cultivated wild rice; soybeans |
| Scale | No acreage published; described as the largest wild rice farm in Aitkin County |
| Why it is notable | Minnesota Extension Farm Family of the Year feature; family credited with an early cultivated wild rice paddy in the state |
| Ownership | Family-owned; Tom and Kim Godward with sons Brandon and Nick, the fourth generation |
| Official website | Farm Progress report on Minnesota Extension Farm Families of the Year |
History of Godward Wild Rice Farms
The Godward story starts in the 1940s. According to a Minnesota Farm Bureau feature on the state's wild rice industry, James Godward, a World War II veteran, was inspired by rice paddies he had seen in Burma and India, and he and his brother began testing ways to cultivate wild rice at home. In 1950 the family launched Godward Wild Rice Farms, which the family describes as the first wild rice farm in the world. Farm Progress describes the Godwards as farming the first cultivated wild rice paddy in Minnesota, in the Brainerd area, in 1950.
The University of Minnesota Extension feature adds that Tom Godward's father and uncle started with a one-acre test field. Tom built the farm into the largest wild rice operation in Aitkin County with his wife Kim, and their sons Brandon and Nick, the fourth generation, help run it. Agweek presents the farm as a family that still tends the crop its ancestors pioneered and sends the rice to stores around the region.
What Godward Wild Rice Farms Grows and Raises
Wild rice is a native aquatic grass, and cultivated production in Minnesota looks more like water management than ordinary grain farming. The Minnesota Farm Bureau feature explains that fields are flooded to between 6 inches and 2 feet after spring planting, then drained by about half an inch to an inch per week starting in mid-to-late June. Harvest generally lasts about two weeks beginning in late August, and only about half of the harvested kernels end up as finished wild rice because the grain is moist and ripens unevenly.
The Godwards also raise soybeans, according to the Extension feature. Statewide, the same Farm Bureau article counts about 30 cultivated wild rice farms, more than 10 million pounds produced in 2023, and about 83 percent of farms with multiple generations involved. Farm Progress reports that the University of Minnesota develops varieties with farmer input. Godward's own processing and marketing arrangements are not published.
How Godward Wild Rice Farms Makes Money
Cultivated wild rice
The core product is the wild rice crop itself. Minnesota produces most of the world's cultivated supply, so a farm like Godward sells into a small, specialized market where quality and consistent supply matter. The farm has not published volumes or prices, and none are estimated here.
Soybeans
The Extension feature notes soybeans as the second crop. A conventional row crop gives a wild rice grower a second market and a different price cycle, which helps when specialty grain prices or yields swing.
Regional retail distribution
Agweek describes the farm's rice as reaching stores around the region. Selling close to home keeps the Godward name attached to a product many shoppers know only as a bag on a shelf.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Godward Wild Rice Farms
First, a niche crop can support generations if the family stays close to the agronomy. Godward has been in wild rice since 1950, and the water, timing and harvest knowledge that the Farm Bureau describes is the kind of know-how that is hard for newcomers to copy.
Second, pair a specialty with a steady partner crop. Soybeans give the operation a second revenue line, and bringing the fourth generation into management early protects both the land base and the accumulated skill.
Few farmers can say their ancestors looked at a paddy in Burma and decided Aitkin County needed one, so the Godward family has earned its place in Minnesota lore. When the paddies are drained and the harvest is done, visit farm.FM for farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes, including affectionate teasing about a grass that spent decades being mistaken for rice at the dinner table.
If the name is new to you, farm.FM is the nation's first satirical farm site, with Tractor Tunes country music for farmers on the side. One of its regular writers keeps a whole archive of stories like that.
How to Contact Godward Wild Rice Farms
Website: https://www.farmprogress.com/farm-life/extension-honors-minnesota-farm-families-of-the-year
No official website or public business contact details for the operation were found, so this links to a Farm Progress report on University of Minnesota Extension honorees, November 2026. Confirm all details with the family before relying on them.
Godward Wild Rice Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Farm Progress: Extension Farm Families of the Year - Report on the honorees, including the Godward family
- Minnesota Farm Bureau: Minnesota wild rice - Industry history, Godward Wild Rice Farms and production figures
- Farm Progress: cultivated wild rice, small yet mighty - Acreage, processing and research in Minnesota wild rice
- University of Minnesota Extension Farm Families - Extension's Farm Families of the Year program
- USDA Census of Agriculture - National farm statistics from USDA NASS
Godward Wild Rice Farms FAQ
Where is Godward Wild Rice Farms?
Sources place it in Aitkin County, Minnesota, and the Minnesota Farm Bureau lists fields near Crosslake, Aitkin and Palisade.
When did the farm start?
The family and trade coverage date the start of the farm to 1950.
What does the farm grow?
Cultivated wild rice and soybeans, according to the University of Minnesota Extension feature.
How do I contact the farm?
No official website or business contact details were found. The linked Extension and Farm Bureau coverage is the best verified starting point for reaching the family.
Godward Wild Rice Farms shows how a single idea, planted in 1950, can grow into a multi-generation business around a crop few other places can produce. To compare it with other leading operations, read the Minnesota farms guide.