If you live in the far reaches of the Upper Midwest, especially in the Red River Valley areas of Minnesota and North Dakota, the fall means harvest time. Sugar beet harvest time. Pity the poor sugar beet. It is not the prettiest plant around. But for many farmers in this part of the country, it may as well be made of gold. Sugary gold.
The annual sugar beet harvest began recently. An army of combines and trucks of all sizes will be swarming the fields and roadways 24/7 for that narrow window of time to get the harvest completed. When done, the mountains you see rising from the flatlands up here are not natural, they are beet piles.
American Crystal Sugar (ACS) is the dominant sugar company in these parts. For decades they have enjoyed a veritable monopoly on the beet sugar industry (not to be confused with cane sugar; whole different crop). Their power was amply demonstrated in one of the largest work lockouts in Minnesota history, which results in a nearly 22-month standoff that ended in May 2013.
ACS is also a big political player. Unafraid to flex their corporate muscle, they are big (not huge mind you, but big) donors. Their Open Secrets page shows that they are also, like many companies, equal opportunity donors — $45K each to the DCCC, DSCC, RCCC, and RSCC. How kind. One of their bigger individual recipients is Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07), the ranking Dem on the House Ag committee, who previously has served as its chair and could be in line again if control of the chamber flips after the 2018 election.
Make no mistake about it, ACS is part of “Big Sugar”, as it has been jokingly called. And let’s not forget about how Big Sugar was behind a “study” that pointed the finger at fat as a leading cause of heart disease when it really was them — sugar — that should have been the target. It took five decades(!) for that little secret to finally be revealed.
Back to beet harvest. My advice (and that of most locals) — if you are by a beet truck, keep your distance. You’d be surprised how much damage a wayward beet can do to a vehicle.
[Personal note: as a diabetic, sugar is one of my enemies, so my interest is more than just nostalgia for my time living in The Valley.]