I arrived in Stephen MN for (hopefully) another profitable sugar beet harvest. This year I elected to arrive early for the pre-pile. I guess pre-pile is sort of like training camp for athletes. Everyone from the farmers to truckers to piling station workers to yard processing folks get to make sure everything is working properly. The company also gets early looks at the beets for size and sugar content.

We don’t work as many hours as during the main harvest and there’s no weekend premium pay but it’s still money coming in and a free camp site. It was definitely strange working my first shift in a T-shirt. Last year I was layered everyday I went to work.

Speaking of weather, I definitely need to find someplace warmer to spend the summer of 2013.  The Tacoma WA area was just plain chilly and overcast most of the time I was there. The local newscasters referred to June as Junuary since it was so cold. And now here in the northern plains, the temps are getting into the 40s at night and I’ve already broken out and plugged in 1 space heater to take the chill off.