Working the Sugar Beet Harvest (Everything You Need to Know!)

[@BigDaddy-dr8gf]

My wife and I both love to read. We both have about the same taste in books, so to pass the time, we listen to audible books. When we have a long haul and we get tired of talking to each other we listen to a book and it passes the time. The only time I find it hard to listen to a book is when we are in cities with heavy traffic. I can't concentrate on the book and the crazy traffic at the same time.

[@OpenRoading]

I do a ton of podcast listening whenever Kalyn is busy or sleeping on our trips! We have some we listen to together as well and much like you in the cities, Kalyn has to turn it off if we hit any sort of rain. The noise on the windshield is too much input for her combined with the podcast. -J

[@freedomtowander]

I’m so glad y’all ran out of money! These videos are excellent!!!! So inspiring! Talking about making lemonade out of lemons!!

[@OpenRoading]

Comment of the day. Literally laughed out loud with your first line. For the record...I'd prefer not to ever be one major truck repair away from disaster ever again in my life. 😂 -J

[@freedomtowander]

@@OpenRoading 😀I’m glad I got a laugh out of y’all! I’m chasing a similar dream and look forward to living life and all the experiences that come with it! Keep up the great footage! I really appreciate it!

[@dawnsarrazin4635]

My husband and I used to work the beet harvest when we were stationed at GFAFB. We worked for one of the farmers driving trucks. We had a blast doing it and made great money!!

[@OpenRoading]

I've considered driving! I may look into that for a future year just to change things up. -J

[@tennesseeturner]

My wife's parents grew up in Powell, Wyoming. Her mom was one of 11 kids. The brothers were, I believe, all farmers, and some of the sisters married farmers. Anyway, that is huge sugar beet country. I had never heard of them until I married my wife.

[@OpenRoading]

Oh that's cool! Yeah - I think Sugar Beets are like the "unknown" agriculture to the average person! -J

[@JoeyJackson-200T]

My buddy goes there about every year to work the harvest. His name is Andy. I was stationed at Minot AFB foe 8 years. When I start missing it up there I wet my hair and stick my head in the freezer for 15 minutes, then I’m over it. It is beautiful up there in the beet harvest area.

[@captnawty7966]

Love your KZbin Channel and it was a pleasure to have met you both at the 2023 Beet Harvest. I am following your dream trip videos of visiting Alaska. Best wishes and please stay safe. Hope to see you both again at the Beet Harvest, either this year or maybe next year. Also, remember you will always have a place to park and stay at the Beet Harvest where you can start a new fund for your next dream trip.

[@OpenRoading]

Awesome! Thanks so much! And can you give me a first name so I can know who I'm talking to? 😁 -J

[@captnawty7966]

@@OpenRoading Sure, this is Mark and Tiffany. Mark was the camp host at Drayton ND and I (Tiffany) worked on piler #6 at American Crystal Sugar. Love watching your videos.

[@OpenRoading]

@@captnawty7966 AHHH! Awesome! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to leave an encouraging comment! -J

[@snaphappee]

My husband and I discuss scripture most of the time when we’re traveling.

[@OpenRoading]

I think some of my favorite car conversations are the deep ones. Be they spiritual, political, ethical, etc. when we get deep it can be really uplifting and enjoyable. (Probably not the case if you don't share the same worldview with your spouse but we do and that makes it wonderful) -J

[@cherylsalinas1548]

I had a friend who did beet harvest this year and both her and her husband worked and it was exhausting. Good luck. ❤️

[@OpenRoading]

The long hours are the worst part IMO. But like we said - the call of $4,000+ was strong! 😂

[@americandualsportrvifeadve3153]

Beet harvest is fun. We have been full-time since 2019. We been doing it every year since then. Great gig as long as it don't rain, lol. First year we worked it the last week was nothing but snow, lmao.

[@OpenRoading]

It's the snow that scares me!! We've done it 2 years and been able to escape before snowfall. I have zero interest in driving this rig in a snowstorm. Hoping to be an operator next year (worked out so well this year 😂) so rain wouldn't bother me to much from the cushy cab. 😂😂 -J

[@randypetty3066]

My first time to ever shop at Aldi I had no idea about the quarter…I got out of my car and saw an older man walking back in with his buggy. I walked up to him in the parking lot and offered to take the buggy back in for him…he gave me an angry look like I was crazy and said no…I quickly learned why he was so protective of his buggy - he wanted his quarter back!

[@OpenRoading]

Isn't it sooo funny how much a quarter motivates people (myself included). Although I have to admit...lately I've been noticing a trend at Aldi of people taking their carts back and leaving the quarters in. It's a trend I can get on board with. -J

[@Thetravelingmoes]

This looks very cool. Im not sure i could stand for 12 hours straight. Youll are so sweet and im glad you're doing better. I appreciate all these video on the different work camping stuff.❤ thank you

[@OpenRoading]

Depending on the site you work at, you'll get a good number of breaks. I do know some of the sites only give you a couple of breaks per shift, the one I was at we rotated through our crew of 5 all night with 30 minute breaks. So you GENERALLY got a 30 minute break every 2 hours. (But this is not a guaranty!) -J

[@Thetravelingmoes]

​@OpenRoading oh that's wonderful. I know I am going to try and sign up. Thank you again

[@maryannscanlon8655]

It’s always good to see you. Beet harvest? Who knew?

[@OpenRoading]

Did it twice! Not this year (Hoping to spend some extra time with Kalyn's fam during that time instead.) -J

[@wiznnhimer]

If you are really looking for an operator position ask to be moved to the Hillsboro yard or Reynolds.

[@OpenRoading]

Thanks for the tip! I do think if I were to go back this year though I would have gone back to the same location. After 2 years of working with one set of people and watching another set...I have come to understand that your crew is most important to the "enjoyment" of your experience. Our crews both years got along tremendously but seeing the other shift not get along at all....makes me think if I switch locations that it's a gamble as to whether or not I'll end up with a foreman that builds his team up like Isaiah does. -J

[@junekerns4780]

I was there when this year to loved it and Mark and Tiffany are fantastic

[@OpenRoading]

They were great hosts! -K

[@thewanderingshores]

Great info on the harvest, so glad to hear Cody is going to be OK. It's nice that all the staff are there with you in the campground, especially for carpooling etc.

[@OpenRoading]

So about carpooling....Generally that is correct but for some strange reason I was the only person from my piling site at our campground....which is going to play a role in an upcoming video. 😳 Cody keeps us on our toes but most of the time he's worth it. -J

[@scottwaitley6790]

I’m so sorry to hear that. I was watching your videos to see if you had discussed it but I appreciate you answering my question. It just sucks when we lose our furry family members ❤️

[@OpenRoading]

Yeah, we never found a really appropriate way to bring it up in the videos. 😥 I do appreciate you asking. I love any opportunity to really stop and remember Cinder. -J

[@jodilynnmodel]

Love that you have a bunny. I was a bunny mom forever. Hoping to get 2 new fur friends soon. Love the beer harvest info. I've considered it myself

[@OpenRoading]

We used to foster rabbits for a rabbit rescue in South West Florida. House rabbits always hold a special place for us. -J

[@jodilynnmodel]

@@OpenRoading I love that. They are special little blessings!

[@TracyBirds]

New subbie from central Alberta, Canada. Binge watching your channel! 🇨🇦 🇺🇸

[@OpenRoading]

Thanks so much! Love your province!! So much beauty! -J

[@BaconNBeer]

I worked the sugar beet harvest about 5 years ago. The weather was rough so it took 5 weeks to finish. I loved the whole experience but I get off on new experiences. I would love to do it again but I am taking care of my aged mom full time. Oh. Well.

[@OpenRoading]

Kudos to you for caring for your mom. ❤️ Every year at training they tell us of the one year that the ND harvest didn't end until thanksgiving because of weather. 😳 -J

[@BaconNBeer]

@@OpenRoading That may have been the year I was there. I worked the night crew and enjoyed it. We had a number of pot luck dinners at the camp ground and the company put on some events. I enjoyed going to the store in town and looking at how high the river was across the street. There was a service station with a great pizza right by the corner between the camp and down town. We had some interesting people on our crew. I liked the clean up but never went inside the machine. I am over 6 feet tall so it probably would have been a tight fit. I was best put to cleaning the mud off the shoots that got heavily caked on during the day. I found an easy way to get it off. I would get the scraper against the metal and started under the mud then instead of using my arm power I would brace the scraper against my hip and use the leverage of my body to push under the mud and it came off fairly easily. Towards the end it seemed like they would kind of leave it to me to scrape the mud. I was good for something at least. I got to flag one truck that was starting to tip over and got the driver to lower the dump. I think the tail gate hit at just the right angle and it didn't slip away during the dump. It was one of those really long dump trailers. A few more seconds and it would have fallen over. The wife of the people camped next to me was our operator. The husband and wife put on a feed at the room behind the office one night. I think their name was Ruggles if I recall. Nice people. Everyone worked well with a minimum of drama. There was a young black couple that had an older RV much like mine that had personal issues. She took out a interior wall for some reason according to him. I think they were new to being on the road as well. In the overall I love traveling in the western states. I move slowly staying in any dispersed camp ground I find for as long as is allowed and exploring the area thoroughly. It was my habit to only spend money on food and fuel and never for a place to stay. I never could understand people paying for a camp ground when right across the road was open land as far as the eye could see and free to camp on. I always left a place as clean or cleaner than I found it where possible. I found many places I want to go back and explore more. The Muley Point area of Utah which looked over the Glen Canyon Wilderness area and Colorado river to the south. Monument Valley to the west and down the Mokie Dugway was Utah's Valley of the Gods. I could spend 6 months there easy.

[@pianogal853]

4:30 that was one of my motivating factors for getting a class B - there's always a bathroom available!

[@OpenRoading]

Haha! Yes! Bathroom stops anywhere! -J

[@marcyschultz498]

I've really enjoyed your videos. I live in North Dakota. It was fun watching you work the sugar beet harvest. Keep the videos coming! 😊

[@OpenRoading]

Thanks so much! The harvest was tiring but ultimately I really enjoyed that work! -J

[@Amtrak.taz.]

We used to have sugar beet harvests in nw ohio.

[@wildrvlife]

That campground sure looks familiar! 😄 the laundry trailer really was the best!

[@OpenRoading]

Right?! We got a better spot this year but our neighbors weren't nearly as cool. 😁 -J

[@hughwolfe1176]

Great information, got to thank you for sharing your experience.

[@OpenRoading]

Glad you found it helpful! -J

[@seymourusa9817]

Awesome video guys! We’re finishing up the Beet Harvest here in Eastern Michigan!

[@OpenRoading]

Awesome! How’d you all fare through that cold spell 2 weeks ago?? -J

[@junekerns4780]

We're making our way down to Schooley in Arizona. And we're in a snowstorm right now in New Mexico. Boondocking at a pilot not doing so well with the cold spells

[@OpenRoading]

@@junekerns4780 Oh no! Snow and cold sucks. Are you going to get a long enough break to get further south? Where we are in TX we're dealing with a ton of wind for the next few days so I'm very glad to not be traveling. Will be thinking of you! Hope you get to better weather soon!! -J

[@lifeswhimsytutelage]

Great info. Thank you.

[@PittsWithAPurpose]

Great video guys! Where are you now? Paul and I are in Texas.

[@OpenRoading]

Thanks so much! We finally caught up to you from Michigan! 😂 We're your neighbors to the east in Arkansas. We're headed your way soon though (although since it's Texas we could be in the same state and 3 days of travel apart). You can get a better idea of where we are in real time over on Instagram. We're @Openroading over there as well -J

[@PittsWithAPurpose]

@@OpenRoading I just followed you on Facebook and forwarded your video. I'll text to tell you where we are. I Dont want to say in the open. We are in a great little area. We stopped up in Arkansas to see my in-laws. Another great area. Your videos have been so good.

[@OpenRoading]

​@@PittsWithAPurpose Sounds good! -J

[@GaryRupp-fe6ly]

The key to a mastermind is two or more minds working on the same problem 😂❤

[@joyfullythriving]

Baking cookies on travel day? BRILLIANT! Another reason my family would love RV life! 😂 Another great video guys! ❤

[@OpenRoading]

As I was watching it last night I was like “Why didn’t I make a dough ($$$) pun?!?!” 😂 Thanks so much for watching! -J

[@joyfullythriving]

@@OpenRoading 🤣😂🤣 Next time!

[@carolynallard97]

Audio books!

[@OpenRoading]

So that's one thing you can't do at the beet harvest. You're not allowed to have earbuds in while you work for safety concerns (you need to be able to hear the truck that's about to hit you). So...no music, podcasts, or audio books. However, if you get a job driving for one of the farmers (no CDL required in the state of ND) I'm sure you could get through a book per shift! -J

[@robertburns5145]

First time seeing this, so besides the obvious, what’s involved in a beet harvest if you’re ground crew? We’re retired and have been work camping at a campground in Virginia. Looking for a change of scenery.

[@OpenRoading]

A lot of walking, some shoveling, and keeping your pad clean with wide snow shovel type things. The main hardships for ground crew is being on your feet for 12 hours and bad weather. Several retired people work the harvest. Every year some people quit early but it's all ages. We have a few more videos with harvest info on our channel. -J

[@waltobringer2928]

Thanks guys!

[@OpenRoading]

You're welcome! Hope you found it helpful! -J

[@waltobringer2928]

@@OpenRoading To be very honest with you, it's pretty easy to pick one or two gems of wisdom from almost anyone's videos. Where you exel is that I don't have to work at it when I watch you. You keep it simpler and easier to follow and I appreciate that.

[@OpenRoading]

@@waltobringer2928 So very kind of you. Thank you. -J

[@williamfreeling6546]

This is my first time here. Love the video. How physically demanding is the work? I am in decent shape for a 40 year old, but could definitely not keep up with younger folk. We are going full time after one more year of teaching and I would love to earn good money in a short period of time.

[@OpenRoading]

Thanks so much for stopping by! "Decent shape for a 40 year old" pretty sure you just nailed a description of me. 😂 Over the next 3 weeks we'll be releasing a lot more beet harvest info - the 3rd video is going to be a 24 hour look of the harvest. At our site this year we had a 70 year old (who was a piler operator and has been doing it for years) a guy in his 60's, me at 40, a couple who was somewhere around my age, and then a few younger kids. None of us fell off the bandwagon. If you can be on your feet for 12 hours a day in heavy work boots, and spend about 1 hour a day doing some heavier shoveling (cleaning the piler) then you can do this. In my opinion the main things that makes people quit are: - Weather: You need to be able to mentally handle working in cold wind, wet weather (you get rain gear) - Hours: Plan on working 10-14 straight 12 hour days. If you get a break - great - but don't plan on it. Get up, go to work, get home, sleep. It's a grind. - Coworkers: DON'T BE THE SOURCE OF DRAMA! Our site last year had some drama which really made it less enjoyable for the crew working on that piler. This year our shift was drama free and it makes all the difference in the world. Watch the next videos and let me know whether or not you think you'll give it a shot! -J

[@OpenRoading]

Oh! One more thing! I have friends who worked the Michigan harvest this year and I know their shifts were only 8 hours. I'm planning on getting more info from them as well to compare the two experiences. -J

[@liztoney1565]

How do you find the work camping jobs? Is there a central website for them?

[@OpenRoading]

We got our start on a community facebook pages. Search for "workcamping" or "workcamping jobs with wages"

[@freedomcraft9]

Not sure if I missed this in a different video, but what happened with your other bunny?

[@OpenRoading]

Cinder passed this summer. She was a real spitfire who fought off an inner ear infection and another illness common to rabbits that left her with permanent head tilt. We've never seen an animal with more spirit and fight than that girl and she thrived (even though she saw the world a little sideways) for 5 more years. But this past summer she couldn't handle the fight any longer. We miss her dearly but carry her forever in our hearts. 💔 -J

[@billwells3836]

Another work option is for her to work at moonlight bunny ranch and if she is good she can make Alaska money in less than a month!

[@OpenRoading]

She has infinitely more value than any "bunny ranch" could ever offer. -J

[@beboboymann3823]

Where’s Trinity? Or am I out of sequence on the videos?

[@OpenRoading]

Out of sequence! If you go to our channel home page and click on "Videos" you'll see the videos in order with the newest one first. -J

[@stenandersen4696]

Did you work together with the campulance man

[@OpenRoading]

We've seen some campulances - I don't know that I've met or worked with a specific one! -J

[@stenandersen4696]

He has a White pittie😊he,s Channel calld the campulance man

[@stenandersen4696]

He is from new York

[@christophereverett5695]

you knopw you can use a socket and a drill driver to take those up faster

[@OpenRoading]

Indeed I do. -J

[@Michaelthearcheangel]

Im a retired Army Ranger new to RVing. Pick up 2008 motorhome CLASS A with 5,642 miles TOMORROW. I see ALOT of people talking about these jobs but not where to get started and how to find them. Google search shows me nothing but scams only. Can someone explain it.

[@OpenRoading]

Shoot me an email to [e-mail] and I’ll send you contact information for 3 companies. 2 I have worked for and the other one walked us through the process of getting started but didn’t have a gate for us. -J

[@janicekazun-gl1ur]

If you are anywhere near Quartzsite, Az. The RTR is January 14 to 19. Lots of info on jobs and actual hiring of camp hosts for the summer. Good luck.

[@christophereverett5695]

i'm planning on doing this solo if i have to if they will let me next year

[@OpenRoading]

They have plenty of solos! -J

[@annwilliams1082]

Really enjoy your channel and videos. Sometimes y'all are so silly and happy and fun to watch. If these aren't the little red beets that I love to eat, what are they used for? Sugar? Safe travels.

[@OpenRoading]

We love bringing a smile to your face! Yes, the sugar is extracted from the beets in a processing plant and then turned into sugar crystals! - K

[@comfortouch]

Just a note: The numbers you listed are for 2 people, not 1. So 1 person would be earning $2,331./ (12hr/7days) week ... And for a single person who lives a distance away and/or gets low fuel mileage; that pay isn't likely worth it 'cause it would be spent in gas just to get there and back.

[@OpenRoading]

That is incorrect. All the numbers I listed (including in the thumbnail) were for me, Joseph... 1 person. We made all the compensation very clear. Watch beginning at 5:37 kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5iYYYlvp92rZ8ksi=D2myxh0yT8zOZxQo&t=337

[@OpenRoading]

And of course, even with $4,000 it would not make sense to drive from Florida to North Dakota and back. Generally people who do the beet harvest plan their travels to come through that area at the right time. For instance, we were in northern Michigan so we traveled to ND before dropping down to Texas for the winter. -J

[@bobmirror7164]

Stay on subject! Video was suppose to be about Sugar Beet Harvest.

[@OpenRoading]

What information were you looking for that we didn't provide? Our channel is not going to be us sitting down talking about a single subject, we're gonna show real life through the process but it's impossible to cram all that into the thumbnail and title. Happy to answer any questions you might have! We also have a 24 hours of beet harvest that dives a more into showing the actual work. -J

[@pamelabranch5865]

My husband’s topic is….are you going to sleep the entire way? Me….Yes

[@OpenRoading]

🤣🤣🤣

[@christophereverett5695]

you know you can use a house key at aldis instead of a quarter

[@OpenRoading]

I just don't like taking it on and off the ring - keep a quarter handy in the truck. 😂 -J

[@christophereverett5695]

@@OpenRoading another thing to keep handy is a old game tokens that are the size of quarters so this way if you ever happen to forget your not loosing a quarter

[@ajf5823]

This is per person? Some of us are single and will pay half that amount in gas prices to drive to and from the work place destination and commute each day

[@OpenRoading]

Yes, this is per person. You definitely don't want to drive out of the way to do the Beet Harvest. We just make sure our travels take us to that area if we are considering it each year. The company tries to make sure you are in a campground within 30 minutes (at least) to each beet harvest piling site. - K

[@scottwaitley6790]

What happened to your other rabbit? 🤔😢

[@OpenRoading]

Cinder passed this summer. She was a real spitfire who fought off an inner ear infection and another illness common to rabbits that left her with permanent head tilt. We've never seen an animal with more spirit and fight than that girl and she thrived (even though she saw the world a little sideways) for 5 more years. But this past summer she couldn't handle the fight any longer. We miss her dearly but carry her forever in our hearts. 💔 -J

[@johhnybodi2475]

Was that both of you working or just one?

[@OpenRoading]

Just one! - K

[@weeepsalotts723]

Mildly amused that you both acted like you finally made it to the midwest when you saw the flat roads, but you came from michigan, which is also midwest.

[@OpenRoading]

For sure for sure. But when if you ask someone to name the first thing they think of when they think of midwest topagraphy my guess would be they would say "Flat and straight" or "Lots of farmland" 🙂 - J

[@weeepsalotts723]

@OpenRoading very true. A lot of michiganders don't even know we are technically midwest. It just made me laugh when you had been in two midwest states before hitting Minnesota and saying that. I do understand the reasoning though. Loving your channel so far, still catching up, i started at the beginning.

[@golfbravowhiskey8669]

Mostly me and my wife just talk about her crazy A$$ family. That conversation can last for hours and hours

[@OpenRoading]

Ohhhh boy! -J

[@missouritravelers]

Im retired i refuse to work 😅

[@hikerliz]

Sounds like only your husband does the beet harvest. I only it is obvious but I’d you both worked it would be twice the money

[@OpenRoading]

Kalyn has her own business that she works on. We discuss this a little bit in "We're broke" but she's putting in long days each week to turn it around after it took quite a hit over the past couple of years. 12 hour shifts at a beet piling site would put a complete stop to any progress she's made. Long term benefits of her building her biz back up far outweigh the short term gain of beet money. -J

[@thosecrazyarkwrights]

Road trips we talk about conspiracy theroies😂

[@OpenRoading]

haha! Amazing. A long long long time ago we did a video on this exact thing. Don't go look for it. It was awful. 😂 (I may have even deleted it because it was so bad) -J

[@robertgermono1756]

U CAN JOIN TWO ZIPS TOGETHER BE SMARTER THAN THE ZIP TIE LOL

[@OpenRoading]

I've done this many times....so now I have to go back and watch this video to see if I had a brain malfunction at that time. lol -J

[@deepaageny6091]

The rabbit needs another rabbit

[@OpenRoading]

We had a pair. Ciner passed this past summer. He's always been more of an introvert so he's been very good on his own. He's close to 10 now. -J

[@DebbiePotter-xh7kv]

Wow I thought it was more money then that

[@OpenRoading]

Many videos about beet harvest are giving you numbers if the couple works...which if you do that then you can double everything I put. -J

[@lovemarinelife]

Why can’t KZbinrs ever stay on topic?

[@OpenRoading]

This entirely depends on the type of creator you are watching! Our channel is a Vlog that is meant to be primarily entertainment focused with a side of info. There are channels that are purely informational and they generally do a great job of “staying on topic.” In our case t the he majority of our channel is our life in video form and life has a way of not staying on topic. 😆 Thanks for giving us a try! -J

[@sbanks1491]

This video had little to nothing to do with the Beat Harvest

[@OpenRoading]

Questions answered in this video about the beet harvest: What is the sugar beet harvest? What positions available at the sugar beet harvest? When is the harvest (specifically in North Dakota)? How long is the commitment? How much you can get paid? What does orientation look like? No - this isn't a sit down talking head about beet harvest - because our style of videos are vlogs that cover every day life - but if you came away learning nothing about the beet harvest, you weren't watching. 🤷🏼 -J

[@kelleyjerred8032]

I love bunnies but dam they are so stinky ugh

[@curtisdoyle3598]

Waisting your time there are better places to see

[@OpenRoading]

Oh lots of great places to see in the world...will those places pay me $4K in 14 days to see them? -J