Anybody work the Sugar Beet Harvest in Sydney?

we, my wife and I, worked the sugar beet harvest in 2006. my wife would never go back for any reason. It is very hard work. 12 hour day, 7 days a week.
STAY AWAY FROM THE PILER. Unless you are the piler operator it is very hard.
very cold wx. we were at Pembina, ND.
The local people got the easy jobs, like scale house op, nice warm.

This Beet harvest job sounds very interesting to me. I like the idea of it being very short in duration. And I like the idea of the physical labor.

Does anyone have a different view from that of "fullofit", a more positive experience? With daily work details?

Thanks

Dog Folks wrote:

mikeleblanc413 wrote:
Received all of the application information with job descriptions and hours you can expect to work. However there is no information on pay scale, overtime and RV park availability. My questions are: 1. What is the basic pay scale, 2. Do they pay overtime for weekly hours over 40, 3. Are RV sites within walking distance and does the company pay

I would appreciate knowing all experiences. I will be in the general area finishing up another workamper position and am considering this employ. THANKS!

With respect. Wouldn't it be best to call the specific employer? Get the information first hand.

Get the name of the person you talk with just in case any discrepancies occur.

It is a job and very important to have the correct information.

X2 get it from the horses mouth and by email so you have it in writing!

nice info.. thanks for that.
it sounds like a way to make some good money. I was reading some prior threads about a husband and wife team that did not have such a good experience.

Would love to hear more from others that have done the "unbeetable experience" to see other points of view.

thanks again

Fulltimer50 wrote:
I received this email from Express pros about the Sugarbeet harvest that gives additional info if you are interested.

From: MacDonald, Alyssa K. (Alyssa.MacDonald@ExpressPros.com)
Sent: Thu 5/14/15 12:04 PM
To:
Dear Workamper,

We still need you! If you have not found a position for fall please consider The Unbeetable Experience! You can earn up to $2600 every 2 weeks and all camping fees paid!

While searching the Awesome Applicant Resume Finder through the Workamper News Website, we came across your Resume looking for a workamping opportunity. If you would be interested in learning more about “The Unbeetable Experience” we would love to talk to you! We help two of the nation’s largest sugar beet processors, American Crystal Sugar and Sidney Sugars,

I received this email from Express pros about the Sugarbeet harvest that gives additional info if you are interested.

From: MacDonald, Alyssa K. (Alyssa.MacDonald@ExpressPros.com)
Sent: Thu 5/14/15 12:04 PM
To:
Dear Workamper,

We still need you! If you have not found a position for fall please consider The Unbeetable Experience! You can earn up to $2600 every 2 weeks and all camping fees paid!

While searching the Awesome Applicant Resume Finder through the Workamper News Website, we came across your Resume looking for a workamping opportunity. If you would be interested in learning more about “The Unbeetable Experience” we would love to talk to you! We help two of the nation’s largest sugar beet processors, American Crystal Sugar and Sidney Sugars, find workers to help with the sugar beet harvest each fall in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. The harvest begins in early October and typically lasts 2-3 weeks (or slightly longer if mother nature throws us a curve). The work is NOT in the fields but at the sugar beet receiving stations (where the farmers bring the beets for storage). Pay starts at $12+/hour with higher pay for skilled positions like foreman, skidsteer, and piler operator. Our 12 hours shifts include overtime pay daily. It’s the highest paying workamping opportunity available and you can earn up to $2600 every 2 weeks! We also pay your camping fees!!! You can learn more by visiting www.sugarbeetharvest.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theunbeetableexperience.

Make sure to check out our Jobinar through Workamper News by following this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyZUr7EYizg.

We would be happy to answer any questions you have over the phone as well. Our toll-free number is (888)791-6738.

Thanks,
The Harvest Team

Alyssa MacDonald

Harvest Assistant

Express Employment Professionals

alyssa.macdonald@expresspros.com

Office: 701-787-5655

Fax: 701-787-5881

fullofit..

thanks for the great write up on the harvest.. sounds like a tough way to make some money. Was that the first, and it seems the last, time you did this deal?

Have any other jobs you have done that are maybe better with good pay.

thanks

Actually, my husband and I did the sugar beet harvest in Sydney, MT in 2014. Express Employment rented the fairgrounds in Sydney for our RVs. We shared an electrical pedestal with one other RV, but for water we had to use a Y connector on a long hose that all the RVs in 2 aisles shared. This meant that we could only fill our water tank off it and hope that no one else was trying to fill theirs at the same time. A truck came around twice a week and sucked out our gray water and black water tanks. We didn't have to be there when they did it. For Workampers who had dogs, the park host would go to each camper and take the dog(s) there for a walk once or twice a day.

To say that you'd be working in Sydney doesn't indicate exactly where you'd be working. There are 3 sites within driving distance of Sydney. Ours was about 20 miles away.

There are 3 positions that they hire for, but some people get 1 of 2 other jobs if they are very lucky. Generally they only hire men for operating the piler or the skid steer. Women are relegated to the task of being a tare helper. My husband was originally hired to be a piler operator (even though he'd asked to be a skid steer operator) and I was a tare helper.

At our location in the Sydney area, one of the managers was an efficiency expert. My husband was doing fine on the piler until the efficiency expert started working with him. He got the piler working at double speed. Not only was it difficult for my husband to keep track of everything at that speed, but it was also very stressful for him. For those of us tare helpers it was extremely confusing because we had difficulty figuring out which of 2 trucks was unloading if we had to take a sample from one load. Within a week and a half I was so exhausted I couldn't walk straight and they let me go. My husband was so stressed he left at the end of the same day. They moved us down to Glendive, MT (Fairview) where the pace was a little more manageable, but they also demoted my husband to tare helper there.

I don't know why they give women the job of tare helper. It's heavy work and you get mud and grease dropped on you all day. The most dangerous thing is the sugar beets that fall off the belt and hit you. Sugar beets can weigh up to 10-15 lbs each and even with a helmet, if you get hit on the head it can bring tears to your eyes. The beets can leave bruises wherever they hit your body.

The pilers were bought in the 1920s or 1930s and things are constantly breaking on them. In Glendive my husband and I were both taking tare samples on one side of the piler. A truck had just pulled up all the way to the 20 foot beet pile to have its dirt returned to it when the boom on the piler broke and fell and dropped all the beets that were on it. My husband and I were trapped there because of the truck behind us and things were dropping and popping all around us. Fortunately we weren't hurt but it was very unnerving to say the least.

There are days when you can't work because the weather isn't conducive and you only get paid for 4 hours. Then there are times when you work every day for 12 hours plus drive time to and from work. For breaks you are required to sit in your car. You can't leave without permission and there are no break rooms to go to. You need to have towels on your car seats and floor because you are so dirty and muddy all the time.

The ground is completely bare so when it's wet it's muddy and when it's dry it's dusty. Dust gets in your eyes. My husband and I finally bought goggles to protect our eyes, but we got dirt up our noses, in our hair, down inside our shirts, in our mouths... When they grease the machinery parts, that drops down on you too. The piler is so noisy that even with ear plugs you hear the noise incessantly.

If you make even the smallest of mistakes you get yelled at. When the efficiency expert started working with my husband on the piler, my husband thought he was going to be fired and that added to the stress of the job. If you catch something that could possibly damage the piler and tell someone about it, they either ignore you or they fix it, but there's no kudos.

We have decided that the job isn't worth it and won't be doing that to ourselves ever again.

The posters who said I could call the company are correct. However, I feel I will get information in this forum that I may not get from the company. I was disappointed when none of the information I am now asking about was not included in their packet. I appreciate the information about the RV parks.

mikeleblanc413 wrote:
Received all of the application information with job descriptions and hours you can expect to work. However there is no information on pay scale, overtime and RV park availability. My questions are: 1. What is the basic pay scale, 2. Do they pay overtime for weekly hours over 40, 3. Are RV sites within walking distance and does the company pay

I would appreciate knowing all experiences. I will be in the general area finishing up another workamper position and am considering this employ. THANKS!

I have a friend over there in the oil fields, and he says it's a real zoo, especially with respect to finding a place to park an RV. Prices for everything are through the roof- good news (for us) seems to be that there's a shortage of workers in jobs like the beet factory, so here's hoping the wages offered for the beet harvest are keeping up!

Here's a bit from an article published in October at Bloomberg

Bloomberg wrote:
Local businesses are unable to find workers. Even after an expensive advertising program to fill out his seasonal workforce, Sidney Sugars Inc.’s general manager, David Garland, has fewer employees than he needs to process sugar beets from October through February. During these five months, 300 people work at the factory.

“We’re finding it harder and harder to fill those positions,” which used to be taken by locals, he said. “We can’t compete with oil wages and there’s no housing.”

The company built a 50-site RV park on its property last year and plans to build a 42-person dormitory. That facility will need to rely on water and sewer hookups to the city of Sidney, which is struggling to figure out how to pay for improvements to those systems.

Running low on caffeine on a recent overcast afternoon -- both the town’s coffee cart and the local McDonald’s were closed for lack of workers -- Sidney’s Director of Public Works, Jeffrey J. Hintz, lifted his ball cap and scratched his head as he considered his meager funding options.

My husband just told me Sidney Sugars does have RV parking.