Piling Sugar Beets in October

The harvesting of sugar beets is in full swing in the Red River Valley. Sugar beets are a perennial plant that store their sugar in the beet root the first year. The growing process is then interrupted to take the beet from the soil and extract the sugar, 17 percent, from the root. The farmers are paid on tonnage delivered and sugar content. The farmers in the Red River Valley own the American Crystal Sugar Company as share holders. These shares give them the opportunity to grow beets on their land, one share equals one acre. At harvest time the beets are topped and then they are lifted from the soil and hauled to the piling sites for storage. During the winter months the stored beets are processed at the plants. We are helping at the Kennedy site and will pile 13,500 acres or about 300,000 tons of beets. The site will off load over 1400 straight trucks and semis in a 24 hour period. There are three piling machines at this site and they are a very large machine to handle many trucks over a short period of time. Each truck is weighed in and out, a sample is pulled from 40 percent of the trucks, and the piles continue to grow during the harvest campaign. Each of the three piles is 20 feet high and approximately 200 feet in width and about a quarter of a mile in length. The beets will weigh between 1 and 5 pounds each. The farmers continue to lift beets for piling as long as it is not too muddy. They are also controlled by the internal temperature of the beets which needs to be between 32 degrees and 55 degrees. As the air temperature drops, the toppers need to stay closer to the lifters in the fields as the leafy tops form a canopy over the beet roots and keep them from freezing. There is a processing plant in Drayton, ND, just across the MN and ND border. The beets we are piling will be processed there over the winter and the American Crystal Sugar you purchase at your local grocery store most likely came from the Red River Valley.

Arriving in North Dakota

Jo and I have headed out on our next adventure. We are headed to North Dakota to learn about and help with the American Crystal Sugar Company's sugar beet harvest. American Crystal Sugar Company is a farmer owned coop where one share equals one acre of beets. This determines the number of acres to be planted and harvested. They hire RVers to come into the Red River Valley to operate the equipment that piles the beets in the valley and over the next 8 months the plants process the beets into the granular sugar we all purchase at our local grocery stores. We left the chained gang at home and hope they continue to have a good winter. Our campground during the harvest is in the small town of Stephen, MN on the northeast side of the valley, in the northwest corner of MN, just 44 miles from the Canadian border. The Red River Valley is a large lake bed from thousands of years ago. Lake Agassiz, (The Red River Valley) was the lake formed by the glacial era and now produces some of the best sugar beets in the USA. The farm land here is a black loam clay soil that grows some great crops. The lay of the land is so flat a marble won't even roll off the highway for miles in the valley. There are 420,000 acres of sugar beets grown in the valley and 39 collection sites, our site is in the Drayton District, where they are stored and processed over winter. The town of Stephen, population 701, is known for their 9-man football team's success, having won the state championship for the last 5 years. We hear the team practicing in the early morning hours, starting at 5:30 AM before school starts. They start at this time due to the farming activities and help needed after school. The trees in this area are already turning to some great fall colors. We hope the weather holds for the harvest to be completed in a timely manner.

Summer of 2008 - Part 4

Jo and I have found and purchased the International Harvester 460 tractor, the same model I purchased when I was 16. We are having a fun time putting together a collection of tractors that we had on the farm when we grew up. The 39'ers, a group started by 5 couples married in 1939, Vaughn's parents were one of the couples, got together at the farm for our Fall Celebration. One member, Alice, of the original 39'ers was able to be us. We invited neighbors and friends to join us and we look forward to getting together again next fall. The Kaune Kampout was held and the family joined in fun, a great word game held around the campfire, (Oh by the way, was "water buffalo" given? If not this is the last one), and of course the wonderful tasting omelets on Sunday morning. The sunsets from our view at the farm are always beautiful. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Summer of 2008 - Part 3

Jo and I got together with Jo's class mates, Joan and Leo. We were able to spend a couple weekends with them. We traveled to Des Moines to the greatest state fair in the US. It was fun to see all the livestock and on the day we were there, they had a showing of antique restored tractors. We even found some International Harvester 460's in the line up. That was the first tractor I had purchased when I was 16. Another weekend trip was to the Mississippi River for a wonderful pontoon ride with Joan and Leo. They know the river so well and showed us a beautiful time on the mighty Mississippi. Kevin and June, our business managers, visited the farm and shared the day with us. It is always a good time to get together with them in West Union and Forest City. We have three hummingbirds that share our patio. We have named them, Chirp, Rock, and Ruby. They are a lot of fun to watch as they enjoy the sugar water that Jo makes for them.

Summer of 2008 - Part 2

Summer activities continued with Jo and I traveling to Henderson, Texas to pick up two storm shelters. We now have a safe place to go in case of severe weather at the farm. When completing the well work, we installed the shelter and our new flag pole. This put a finishing touch on the farm entrance. We raised the flag with pride and enjoy watching the colors fly. We gathered with family at the Kaune Reunion. Jo and her brothers and sisters enjoyed the day together. We had a charity tractor ride go by the farm and it was fun to see the tractors as they left town and returned. We entertained the Drewes family and were glad that Eldean and Audrey, their daughter Carol, and my Dad's sister, Irene, could enjoy time together. We traveled to Wisconsin to see Ryan and spent the day with him, touring the town of Neenah and having some great Mexican food. Jo and I spent several weeks completing the landscaping around the well, shelter, and flag pole. Getting the grass established brought the yard back to an appearance we like to share with others.

Summer of 2008 - Part 1

Our summer began with participating in the West Union Dairy Days Parade. We shared our Farmall 656 tractor which was bought new in 1967 by Vaughn's Dad. We restored the tractor to original condition and what fun we had sharing it with the community. We then traveled to Brooksville, Florida to pick up Nellie Bell, the 1951 Ford tractor we had purchased. Tom and Denise served us some sweet corn and barbecue while we were there for a short time. Then it was back to West Union to spend time with family and friends. Tim celebrated a birthday and did receive the soft tub he has been asking for many years. However, it may be a little smaller than he wanted. RuthAnn also had a birthday and her family planned a surprise party to celebrate with family and friends. Keith and Bernie spent a few days with us at the farm as they were traveling a circuit to the northeast in their motor home. They celebrated the 4th of July with us and our family. The kids were given tractor rides and everyone posed with the tractors and enjoyed a great evening of fire works.