For two intense weeks a year, thousands of trucks travel the Red River Valley’s highways and gravel roads 24/7, charged with gathering sugar beets, one of the country's heaviest, most time-compressed harvests.

Drivers behind the wheel vary in experience, from longtime farmhands and professional truckers to new hires looking for extra spending money. For a short time, they all become part of American Crystal Sugar Co.'s push to get the beets from field to factory, where the radish-like root is turned into table sugar, among other things.

For many drivers, "the campaign" is a vacation from the city, a career, or both. “It’s a culture,” says Greg Hayes, who for years worked closely with the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association as regional supervisor of the Minnesota State Patrol. “They don’t need the money. It’s just part of the experience.”