American Crystal Sugar Company
Hillsboro Processing Plant
Hillsboro, ND
GPS: 47.434612, -97.062921
"American Crystal Sugar and Sidney Sugars hire over 1,300 workers stationed at 45 sugar beet receiving stations. These seasonal employees are an integral part of making yearly sugar production a great success. These short–term positions offer excellent compensation and attract applicants from all over the United States and Canada. Locals and travelers alike come to make a hefty paycheck while being able to enjoy various outdoor attractions and camp sites."
American Crystal Sugar Company contracts with Express Employment Professionals (EEP)
for approximately 1,300 additional temporary workers
We first learned about the sugar beet harvest during the summer of 2014 while workamping in Pennsylvania. Subsequently, we saw Express Employment Professionals advertisements in WorKamper News. In January 2015, EEP had a booth at the RV Show in Tampa, FL. We visited with them. Along with Pat and Herb Myers, we signed up for the 2015 harvest.
If you are interested in working the sugar beet harvest, Express Employment Professionals (EEP) are the people to contact. EEP is a national temporary help agency operated by many individual franchise owners. The franchisee for the sugar beet harvest is in Grand Forks, ND. Under the leadership of Scott Lindgren, they have been providing temporary workers to ACSC for seventeen years and their contract has just been renewed.
Here are the particulars:
Express Employment Professionals
3590 S. 42nd Street
Grand Forks, ND 58201
Phone: 701-787-5655
Related websites:
http://www.sugarbeetharvest.com Click on “Application Process”
http://www.crystalsugar.com
http://www.expresspros.com
My comments:
I was impressed with the professionalism, thoroughness, and thoughtfulness of all the EEP employees. From our first contact in Tampa in January until we closed up our rig and headed home at the end of the harvest in October, they delivered on every promise and gave an accurate portrayal of the realities of the sugar beet harvest. They did not ‘sugar coat’ anything (pun intended).
Specifically:
** They maintained telephone contact with us through the spring and summer.
** They gave us very specific instructions on arriving at the campground and where and when to report for processing.
** The campground was ready and expecting us at the appointed time.
** Our employment paperwork was ready for us, although we did have additional forms to fill out and sign.
** EEP provided a Camp Host to act as a contact for any problems and to make sure of our well-being. The camp host also provided pet walking service.
** Scott Lindgren visited us at the campground to learn of any concerns and give us some background information on the sugar beet harvest.
I will take issue with one statement in the published information quoted above.
” … being able to enjoy various outdoor attractions … “
The work day (or night) is twelve hours long. 8 to 8. Once the harvest starts, there are no days off and you cannot leave the yard during your shift. The harvest stops only for excessive heat or excessive rain. The harvest goes until the fields are empty, so the end point is uncertain. In our case, it was ten days. Veterans told us that some years it goes for a month because of weather. So I would rewrite that phrase to say:
” … being able to enjoy a shower, a meal, and sleep … “
I agree with “excellent compensation”. Base rate for a new hire Helper was $12.40 per hour
** Mon — Fri: 8 hrs at straight time; 4 hrs at 1 1/2 time
** Sat — 12 hrs at 1 1/2 time
** Sun — 12 hrs at 2 time
That works out to $1,389 per week per person.
We found the work not hard, but at our age standing on concrete for twelve hours straight took its toll and we were soon popping pain pills regularly.
Posts about the Sugar Beet Harvest
FIRST DAY IN NORTH DAKOTA
Hillsboro, North Dakota, we have arrived
GETTING READY FOR WORK
Some paperwork to get us started
ON THE JOB TRAINING
A trip to the Hillsboro factory for some OJT
TEN DAYS OF WORK
Notes and pictures on our ten days of work
THE CAMPAIGN
A quick summary of the annual campaign of sugar beet processing
THE SUGAR BEET
Bigger than a coconut, smaller than a football. Here is the story on the sugar beet
THE PILER
I was very impressed with the big machine we worked on. I thought you might like to learn more.
THE SUGAR BEET PILE
How big is a pile that contains 90,000 tons? Here are some pictures and figures
DOWN AND DIRTY: GIVING BACK THE TARE DIRT
Harvesting root crops produces dirt. How to handle and dispose of it is an interesting side story
A LOOK AT THE SUGAR INDUSTRY
A $20 billion industry with 142,000 jobs in 22 states. Take a look at the Sugar Beet Industry
AMERICAN CRYSTAL SUGAR COMPANY
Get a closer look at the company providing this workamping opportunity.
EXPRESS EMPLOYMENT PROFESSIONALS
If you are a workamper interested in short term hard work for big bucks, here’s the link
American Crystal Sugar Company
Hillsboro Processing Plant
Hillsboro, ND
GPS: 47.434612, -97.062921
American Crystal Sugar Company (ACSC) is the sugar producer in the Red River Valley along the ND/MN border and also operates a facility in Sydney, MT serving the beet growers in the Yellowstone River Valley. ACSC is a grower cooperative.
American Crystal Sugar Company Production Facilities
In a typical harvest, ACSC will acquire 11 million tons of sugar beets. These beets will arrive at the processing plants in 550,000 truckloads, each truckload representing the harvest from one acre of farmland. The beets come from the 2,800 growers who are members of the cooperative.
The Hillsboro Factory
Our work site was the Hillsboro Factory, one of ACSC’s seven sugar beet factories. This factory was built in 1973 with major upgrades in 1997 and 1998. The Hillsboro Factory operates six piling locations: Hillsboro, Midway, Ada (north), Ada (west), Waukon, and Reynolds. We worked at the Hillsboro piling location where there are six pilers.
Here are some of the gee-whiz numbers:
Capacity: 2,500,000 tons
Average daily production: 1,425 tons
Employment: 225 year-round employees
Agricultural Information:
Number of member growers: 492
Number of acres planted: 70,757
Tons of beets processed: 1,402,421
Packaging / Warehousing
Number of different labels and products packaged: 24 labels, 4 pound packages
Hundredweight (100 pounds) packaged: 1.5 Million
Hundredweight (100 pounds) bulk shipments: 7 Million
By-products sold annually
Bulk Pulp pellets: 96,000 tons (cattle feed in USA, Europe, and Japan)
Molasses: 100,000 tons (cattle feed & fermentation)
Now you can wow your friends at cocktail parties with useless trivia until their eyes glaze over or until they go back to talking about their neighbors.
Posts about the Sugar Beet Harvest
FIRST DAY IN NORTH DAKOTA
Hillsboro, North Dakota, we have arrived
GETTING READY FOR WORK
Some paperwork to get us started
ON THE JOB TRAINING
A trip to the Hillsboro factory for some OJT
TEN DAYS OF WORK
Notes and pictures on our ten days of work
THE CAMPAIGN
A quick summary of the annual campaign of sugar beet processing
THE SUGAR BEET
Bigger than a coconut, smaller than a football. Here is the story on the sugar beet
THE PILER
I was very impressed with the big machine we worked on. I thought you might like to learn more.
THE SUGAR BEET PILE
How big is a pile that contains 90,000 tons? Here are some pictures and figures
DOWN AND DIRTY: GIVING BACK THE TARE DIRT
Harvesting root crops produces dirt. How to handle and dispose of it is an interesting side story
A LOOK AT THE SUGAR INDUSTRY
A $20 billion industry with 142,000 jobs in 22 states. Take a look at the Sugar Beet Industry
AMERICAN CRYSTAL SUGAR COMPANY
Get a closer look at the company providing this workamping opportunity.
EXPRESS EMPLOYMENT PROFESSIONALS
If you are a workamper interested in short term hard work for big bucks, here’s the link
American Crystal Sugar Company
Hillsboro Processing Plant
Hillsboro, ND
GPS: 47.434612, -97.062921
Sugar is the most widely used sweetener in the world, with its closest substitute being high-fructose corn syrup. Other caloric sweeteners are not significant in the global sweeteners market, but their shares are rising due to increasing cases of obesity, diabetes, and growing health concerns among people.
The global market for sweeteners totaled about $76 billion in 2012 and is projected to reach nearly $97 billion by 2017. In this market, sugar holds the majority share, about 85%. The global volume of sugar consumption is rising by about 4% per year, but the market value is dictated by sugar prices, which are extremely volatile.
Sugar Beets require fertile soil and a temperate climate while sugar cane grows in a tropical climate. Production areas for sugar beets in the US are in fertile river valleys in the north. The Red River Valley supports the crop in North Dakota and Minnesota while the production in Montana and northern Wyoming comes from the Yellowstone River Valley. The North Platte River Valley is a growing area in southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska, and northeast Colorado. Growing sugar beets is done in Idaho along the Snake River Valley, and in Oregon in the Willamette River Valley.
The American sugar industry has a significant impact on the nation’s economy. The industry creates 142,000 direct and indirect jobs in 22 states and contributes $20 billion in positive economic activity each year.
Posts about the Sugar Beet Harvest
FIRST DAY IN NORTH DAKOTA
Hillsboro, North Dakota, we have arrived
GETTING READY FOR WORK
Some paperwork to get us started
ON THE JOB TRAINING
A trip to the Hillsboro factory for some OJT
TEN DAYS OF WORK
Notes and pictures on our ten days of work
THE CAMPAIGN
A quick summary of the annual campaign of sugar beet processing
THE SUGAR BEET
Bigger than a coconut, smaller than a football. Here is the story on the sugar beet
THE PILER
I was very impressed with the big machine we worked on. I thought you might like to learn more.
THE SUGAR BEET PILE
How big is a pile that contains 90,000 tons? Here are some pictures and figures
DOWN AND DIRTY: GIVING BACK THE TARE DIRT
Harvesting root crops produces dirt. How to handle and dispose of it is an interesting side story
A LOOK AT THE SUGAR INDUSTRY
A $20 billion industry with 142,000 jobs in 22 states. Take a look at the Sugar Beet Industry
AMERICAN CRYSTAL SUGAR COMPANY
Get a closer look at the company providing this workamping opportunity.
EXPRESS EMPLOYMENT PROFESSIONALS
If you are a workamper interested in short term hard work for big bucks, here’s the link
American Crystal Sugar Company
Hillsboro Processing Plant
Hillsboro, ND
GPS: 47.434612, -97.062921
Harvesting Sugar Beets brings along dirt
Sugar beets are a root crop. Just like carrots, turnips, radishes, and potatoes, the part you want is in the dirt – not on a tree or bush. So harvesting involves dirt. Mechanical harvesters dig the beets out of the ground and throw them into a truck at a pretty high speed so a lot of dirt goes along for the ride and into the piler. This dirt is called “Tare Dirt”. American Crystal Sugar does not want the dirt, has no place to keep it, and certainly does not want to pay for it. It is part of the truck weight coming into the yard and they want it to be part of the truck weight going out.
Pilers include large cleaning devices to carry out a secondary cleaning of the beets to remove all foreign materials that made it into the piler with the beets. Beets are bounced and rolled, being scrubbed clean as they move; dirt and other foreign materials are sucked through the rolls, collected into a hopper, and returned to the truck as the last step in the receiving process.
Piler cleans off some of the dirt ...
... and that dirt is returned to the truck
By this time loose dirt is gone and the beets are “pretty clean”, but they still carry some clinging tare dirt through the piler. The beets are subject to a deduction for that tare dirt. Tare determination, sugar percentage, and sugar loss to molasses are determined based on the sample at the quality laboratory in Grand Forks.
That’s the story on Tare Dirt.
Posts about the Sugar Beet Harvest
FIRST DAY IN NORTH DAKOTA
Hillsboro, North Dakota, we have arrived
GETTING READY FOR WORK
Some paperwork to get us started
ON THE JOB TRAINING
A trip to the Hillsboro factory for some OJT
TEN DAYS OF WORK
Notes and pictures on our ten days of work
THE CAMPAIGN
A quick summary of the annual campaign of sugar beet processing
THE SUGAR BEET
Bigger than a coconut, smaller than a football. Here is the story on the sugar beet
THE PILER
I was very impressed with the big machine we worked on. I thought you might like to learn more.
THE SUGAR BEET PILE
How big is a pile that contains 90,000 tons? Here are some pictures and figures
DOWN AND DIRTY: GIVING BACK THE TARE DIRT
Harvesting root crops produces dirt. How to handle and dispose of it is an interesting side story
A LOOK AT THE SUGAR INDUSTRY
A $20 billion industry with 142,000 jobs in 22 states. Take a look at the Sugar Beet Industry
AMERICAN CRYSTAL SUGAR COMPANY
Get a closer look at the company providing this workamping opportunity.
EXPRESS EMPLOYMENT PROFESSIONALS
If you are a workamper interested in short term hard work for big bucks, here’s the link
