Beet Harvest Day 13 – Looking Down from the Van Deck

Morning Conditions:

View from the Top of the Van Deck

After a morning where I had to do jumping jacks to stay warm, the afternoon turned hot and sunny. I’m not really sure why we didn’t get a heat shut-down. Almost every ground crew member had gone down to t-shirts.

On my afternoon break, I decided to get a better view from the top of the van. So, out came the ladder and I jumped up high.

Most of the truckers ignored me, but a few did double takes.

Since we’ve crushed out 10 days of 24 hours of piling, the piles have become much longer. That meant that we had to park closer to the time shack in the yard.

Thus, I had a great vantage point to see all four piles, the scale house, and the time shack. It’s amazing getting 10 feet higher will do for your perpective!

Root Temperatures Were Taken

Throughout the hotter portion of the day, the foreman and the Ag’s were taking the root temps of the sugar beets. Even if the air temperature gets above 55 degrees, as long as the beet root temperatures are lower, we can pile.

Our whole ground crew eagerly peered around trying to see the verdict, but trucks kept coming. 🤷‍♀️ I guess they passed the temp test.

We Got Stickers from a Trucker

We’ve had a thriving candy trade going on with the truckers at our piler for about a week.

But, earlier today was the first time one handed me stickers out the window. I traded him a snickers bar and he gave us 3 “Sugar Beet Mafia” stickers. Super stoked! 🥳

When we get a day off, we’ll probably make it into a magnet to add to the inside of our slider door.

Evening Conditions: