Nebraska is known for corn and cattle, but sugar beets have long been a major crop in the North Platte Valley. Here are scenes from the farm of brothers Glenn and Leo Kellett near Gering. Around 1940, Glenn shot 8 mm film (some in color!) documenting a season of planting and harvesting. Digitized by History Nebraska, these video excerpts take you through the season in less than three minutes.
The process was partly mechanized by then – you’ll see trucks and tractors and teams of horses. And watch how quickly the workers chop off the tops of beets with machetes, working their way down a furrow while bent over. Beet harvesting was so backbreaking that it spurred the recruitment of immigrant laborers—such as Mexican workers and Germans from Russia—in order to have an adequate harvest workforce.
The Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering displays historic equipment used in sugar beet farming.
