I recently made a road trip to the Kennebec, Presho area in Central South Dakota. I thought I'd get out and do a little looking for a coyote and some deer scouting for the upcoming season in November.

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The weather was perfect, not for hunting, but for just being outside. I did learn a couple of things while I was there. First of all, I learned about an excellent new app for the phone called onX Hunt. It's nice because it shows exactly where you are, and whose land you're on. Which is pretty important when you are out scouting and hunting.

Harvest
Scott Olson, Getty Images
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The other thing I picked up on was some area farmers had hired workers from South Africa to help with farming. Yep, the labor crunch that applies to seemingly every store and business here in Sioux Falls even applies to South Africans coming to the States, to help with the harvest in the central part of the state.

Combines still need operators. Grain carts and trucks need drivers to help bring in the fall bounty. I did a little research when I got back to the office and found that it's actually been happening quite a bit here in South Dakota and throughout the midwest.

There are challenges to getting the workers here. First off, it's a 20-hour flight. Then there are work visas. According to Hay and Forage.com;

While workers with an H-2A visa are in America, they aren’t allowed to work for anyone except the farmer who completed the visa application. When the season ends, they are required to return to their own country.

That's just a scratch of the story's surface, but it caught my attention. It seems to work for some operators. When the workers are done, they return to South Africa and start all over again, as their growing season is on the opposite side of the calendar.

Thank you for sharing this story with your farmer friends plus, I'm always looking for interesting stories to share. If you have one, let me know. jdcollins@kikn.com

Life on a Cattle Ranch in Western South Dakota

Life is different out in the country. One look at the photo from Robin Bickel and you quickly realize that a workday is quite different as well, after all, she lives out west in South Dakota Cattle Country.

Robin Bickel took time to tell KIKN Country a little bit about her life out west and life as a woman, working outdoors with animals and nature in God's Country. Bickel lives and works on a cattle ranch operated by herself, her father, Jack, and his brother Keith. How far out in the country is she? How does 50 miles west of Mobridge, South Dakota sound? Yep, mountain time out there.

Life is so different in Sioux Falls, South Dakota compared to what our friends on the farm and ranches deal with. It's a half-mile to the grocery store for our family. For Robin, it's 17 miles. However, it's a quick step out her door and she's right in the middle of where a lot of the groceries come from.


30 Ways You Might Have Already Broken the Law Today

Most of us try the best we can to be law-abiding citizens, but did you know that you may have been breaking the law without even realizing it?

BestLifeOnline has a list of 30 of the most common transgressions. How many have you been guilty of over the years?

Out of 30, I am guilty of 19. And no I won't tell you which ones.


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