Rep. Dusty Johnson visits with Gisi Pheasant Farms staff

South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson visited the Gisi Pheasant Farms facility east of Ipswich on Monday, Aug. 31.

Greg Gisi gave Rep. Johnson a tour of the area where pheasant hatching will be in full operation in the spring.

The Gisi's find it hard to hire enough seasonal workers when they are busy, so they rely on temporary immigrant workers.

Gisi staff told Rep. Johnson about using H-2A workers, temporary, non- immigrant workers to perform agicultural labor. They have been using the program for 15 to 20 years.

"They fill a void," said Loretta Omland, of the temporary workers. They try to employ workers from the United States, but they have not been able to fill the need.

They have been able to fill the labor-intense postitions using South Africans, who have farm backgrounds.

The Gisi staff has to begin paperwork in December, hoping to find workers by March 1 when the eggs begin arriving.