Sugar Beet Harvest Jobs for RVers: How We Made $4,100 While Traveling Full-Time

One of the big questions that comes with full-time RV living is pretty simple: How do you make money while you’re traveling?

We had already spent more than a year boondocking and traveling full-time when we decided to try something a little different. Instead of simply traveling from place to place, Ed began looking at short-term seasonal jobs that could bring in some extra money without tying us to one location for months at a time.

That’s how we discovered the sugar beet harvest.

We’d never really considered harvesting sugar beets—or even knew much about how the harvest worked. But another full-time RVer told Ed about the opportunity and mentioned that workers could earn around $2,800 for roughly ten days of actual work.

That certainly got our attention.

So Ed decided to give it a try.

By the time our North Dakota sugar beet harvest experience was finished, he’d earned about $4,100, we’d had our RV site provided while we were there, and we’d discovered another way full-time RVers can supplement their income without giving up life on the road.

Here’s what our experience was really like.

What Is the Sugar Beet Harvest?

Sugar beets are harvested in the fall and transported by truck to large piling stations.

At the piling station, trucks loaded with beets pull alongside enormous piling machines and dump their loads. Conveyor belts carry the beets through the machine, separate out some of the dirt and move the beets onto the growing pile.

And these aren’t little piles.

The machinery gradually creates enormous rows of sugar beets that can stretch roughly a quarter mile long.

For a few weeks each fall, all of this requires a temporary workforce—and that’s where RVers come in.

Seasonal workers can fill a variety of positions, from directing trucks and working around the piling machines to operating equipment and working in the scale house.

How We Found the Job

We learned about the sugar beet harvest from another full-time RVer.

Ed contacted the hiring company, filled out the required information online and was accepted for the harvest.

Initially, he expected to work on the ground around one of the piling machines.

Then things changed.

While we were traveling toward North Dakota, Ed received a call from American Crystal Sugar. They had seen qualifications on his résumé and asked whether he’d be interested in working as a night-shift foreman instead.

He agreed.

That change ultimately meant more responsibility—but also more money.

What Jobs Are Available at the Sugar Beet Harvest?

You don’t necessarily need experience operating farm equipment to work the harvest.

There are several different jobs involved in keeping a piling station running.

Ground Crew

Ground workers help direct trucks into position around the piling machines, collect samples when needed and help keep the operation moving.

This is one of the more physically demanding positions because you’re outside in the weather.

The work itself isn’t especially complicated, but you’re dealing with cold temperatures, wind and plenty of mud.

Scale House

The scale house can be a considerably less physical job.

Incoming trucks drive onto a scale and are weighed while loaded. After dumping the sugar beets, they return to the scale and are weighed again.

The difference tells the company how much the load of sugar beets weighed.

Most of the work is done from inside the scale house rather than standing outside beside the piling machines.

Piling Machine Operator

The piling machines require operators, and these jobs involve more training.

There’s a lot happening at once. Trucks may be unloading on both sides of the machine while the operator controls conveyor belts and watches the growing beet pile.

Ed described the equipment as requiring quite a bit of coordination, but he was impressed with the training provided.

Foreman

Ed worked as a night-shift foreman at the Glendon piling site.

His responsibilities included making sure employees received their breaks, keeping dirt away from the machines, covering breaks in the scale house and operating equipment when needed.

He also learned to operate a skid steer and front-end loader.

The training wasn’t rushed. In fact, part of learning the equipment involved spending an entire day moving a dirt pile from one place to another and back again until he was comfortable operating the machinery.

That gave him confidence that he knew what he was doing before the harvest was underway.

How Long Does the Sugar Beet Harvest Last?

Here’s where the job gets interesting.

You may only need around ten actual working days to complete the harvest, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be there for only ten days.

The harvest is completely dependent on the weather.

Sugar beets can’t simply be harvested under any conditions.

If it’s too hot, harvesting can stop.

If it’s raining, harvesting can stop because the trucks can tear up the fields.

If temperatures fall below freezing, harvesting can stop because they don’t want the beets to freeze.

That means workers need to be prepared to stay in the area for considerably longer than the number of days they’ll actually work.

We arrived September 26 and didn’t leave until October 22—almost a month.

Other years can be completely different. Ed heard stories of previous harvests when workers arrived, worked ten straight days and were finished.

You simply don’t know what Mother Nature is going to do.

What Is “Stay Pay”?

One of the things that made the unpredictable schedule much more manageable during our harvest was something called stay pay.

The company recruits RVers from around the country, and they obviously don’t want everyone hitching up their trailers and leaving when bad weather shuts down the harvest for several days.

So during our harvest, workers received compensation for qualifying days when they couldn’t work through no fault of their own, provided they remained available and returned when called back to work.

For Ed, that meant he was still receiving some income even on days when weather prevented the harvest from operating.

That made committing a month to the job much easier to justify.

Employment terms can change from year to year, of course, so anyone considering the harvest should verify the current pay and stay-pay policies before making plans.

What Are the Work Hours Like?

When the harvest is running, the shifts are long.

There are day and night shifts, and each shift is 12 hours.

If the weather cooperates perfectly, it’s possible to work ten consecutive 12-hour days.

That didn’t happen during our year because there were weather interruptions.

It’s something prospective workers should understand, though. This is short-term seasonal work designed to get the harvest completed when conditions allow it.

When the weather says go, you work.

Is the Work Physically Demanding?

That depends greatly on your position.

Someone working outside around the piling machines is going to have a very different experience from someone sitting inside the scale house.

The outdoor jobs mean dealing with wind, mud and cold temperatures.

However, Ed pointed out that they weren’t out harvesting sugar beets in extreme below-freezing conditions because the harvest itself stops when conditions aren’t suitable.

He found the overall experience manageable and said he’d definitely do it again.

In fact, we signed up again.

How Much Did We Make?

This was the part that originally interested us—and probably interests most RVers considering seasonal work.

Ed had originally heard that he could make around $2,800 during the harvest.

Because he was offered the foreman position, his earnings were higher.

By the time we left, he had earned approximately $4,100.

There were also a few additional perks associated with his particular job. For example, because he used our truck to carry oil to the piling machines and perform some maintenance tasks, he received additional compensation for that work.

After the harvest, there was another surprise.

Workers who completed the harvest received a bonus based on their total earnings. In December, we received another check for roughly $350.

Those figures reflect our experience during that particular harvest and shouldn’t be taken as current guaranteed wages. Pay rates, bonuses and employment terms can change.

But for us, the sugar beet harvest accomplished exactly what we’d hoped it would: it gave us a substantial injection of income for a relatively short commitment.

Free RV Camping During the Harvest

Another major benefit for RVers was housing.

We didn’t have to pay for a campground while Ed worked.

We had expected to be placed in a regular RV park, but our setup turned out a little differently. We stayed at the Red River Fairgrounds area in Fargo.

We had electricity and shared a water connection with our neighbor.

We didn’t have a sewer connection directly at our site, but a service truck came through twice a week to empty our tanks.

There was a little uncertainty the first week when the truck missed one scheduled visit, but after that everything went smoothly.

Having the RV accommodations included makes a big difference when you’re trying to actually save the money you’re earning.

If you’re making several thousand dollars but spending a large chunk of it on lodging, the job isn’t nearly as attractive.

For RVers who already have their home with them, provided camping can make seasonal work particularly worthwhile.

What Is It Like Living There for a Month?

One of the advantages of this kind of job is that you’re still living in your own home.

We weren’t staying in a hotel for a month or trying to figure out temporary housing. Our trailer was right there.

On weather days when the harvest wasn’t operating, we could relax at home and wait for the call that work was resuming.

And because the entire commitment was roughly a month, it didn’t feel as though we’d given up traveling.

We simply paused.

Then, when the harvest ended, we hitched up again and continued south.

Can Couples Work the Sugar Beet Harvest?

For RV couples looking for seasonal income, there can be opportunities for both people to work.

In our case, Ed was the one working the harvest while I remained at the trailer with General.

That worked well for us.

But there are multiple types of jobs at the piling sites, with different levels of physical activity, so couples interested in working together can ask about available positions during the application process.

What About Traveling With a Dog?

Having General with us influenced our decision about whether both of us should work.

Twelve-hour shifts are a long time to leave a dog alone in an RV.

Since I wasn’t working the harvest, that wasn’t an issue for us. General had someone home with him while Ed worked.

For RVers traveling with pets, however, it’s something worth thinking through before both partners commit to 12-hour shifts.

Where Are Sugar Beet Harvest Jobs Available?

Our experience was in the Fargo, North Dakota area, but sugar beet operations extend into other parts of the region.

We also learned that there are sugar beet harvest opportunities in Michigan, where the harvest takes place somewhat later.

Some seasonal workers actually finish the North Dakota harvest and then travel to Michigan to work another one.

For RVers who deliberately use seasonal work to fund their travels, stacking short jobs like that can be an interesting strategy.

Would We Work the Sugar Beet Harvest Again?

Yes.

For us, it was a very positive experience.

The people were friendly, the training was good, our camping was provided, and Ed earned a worthwhile amount of money without requiring us to settle somewhere for an entire season.

There are certainly things to consider.

You need to be prepared for 12-hour shifts. Some jobs require being outdoors in cold, muddy and windy conditions. Your schedule is at the mercy of the weather, and you may need to remain in the area for a month even though the actual number of working days is much smaller.

But that’s also what makes the job fit the RV lifestyle surprisingly well.

You arrive.

You park the RV.

You work hard for a short period.

You put some money in the bank.

And then you get back on the road.

For full-time RVers who need to supplement their income without committing to a traditional year-round job, the sugar beet harvest is certainly an opportunity worth investigating.

It worked for us.

And when we finally pulled out after almost a month in North Dakota—with an extra $4,100 in our pocket—we celebrated with a steak dinner.

Of course, our trailer apparently smelled the money too.

But that’s another story.

We’ll see you down the road…and Over the Hills!

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