Along the 250 miles of the Minnesota-North Dakota border, the sugar beet harvest is nearing completion. Every fall for two or three weeks, the fields are alive with activity, as farmers, truckers and processing employees work literally around the clock, getting the beets out of the fields, storing and processing them.

Nearly 10 million tons of sugar beets will be harvested this year -- which will produce more than 1 million tons of refined sugar.

Processing continues into the spring at plants operated by American Crystal Sugar Co. and the Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative. Beets are also grown and processed in central Minnesota at Renville.

Photos by Barb Kucera, Workday Minnesota editor

Sugar beets grown in the Red River Valley are large, brownish-white, and packed with natural sweetness. Photo courtesy of Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative website

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Trucks run around the clock, shuttling beets from field to storage area to factory. At right is a "topper" that cuts the top off the plant before the beet is harvested.

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In delicate, synchronized motion, the beet lifter and truck move in tandem across the field. The lifter harvests the beets and a conveyer belt feeds them into the truck.

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As the sun sets over farmer Bill Hejl's field near Casselton, N.D., he and union member Mark Froemke discuss the status of this year's harvest. Sugar beets are a $3.1 billion industry in Minnesota and North Dakota, providing livelihoods to some 2,500 farmers, 2,700 sugar processing workers and thousands more in related businesses.

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At storage sites that dot the countryside and at sugar processing plants, the trucks drop off the beets, which are piled high with the use of conveyer belts.

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Trucks shuttle the beets from the piles to loading bins at the factory. These specially designed trucks can open their sides to dislodge the beets.

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Inside the plant, the beets are sliced and juice is extracted which is turned into sugar. The remaining pulp is processed into livestock feed. A variety of sugars are produced, including granulated and powdered. Videographer Howard Kling (above, in white hard hat) films sliced beets moving along a conveyer belt at American Crystal Sugar's Moorhead plant, as shift supervisor John Wagar looks on.

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The entire sugar-making process is controlled electronically, with workers able to use computers to make adjustments as needed.

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In the packaging area, a machine fills five-pound bags with granulated sugar.

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Equipment then fills boxes with bags of sugar and moves them along an assembly line where they are loaded onto pallets for shipment.

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A worker lifts a pallet of powdered sugar, which will be taken to the loading dock. Next stop for the sugar: a store near you.

For more information
The American Crystal Sugar website, www.crystalsugar.com
The Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative website, www.mdf.coop
The Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association, www.sbreb.org