KMEG 14 - News, Weather, Sports for Sioux City and Siouxland | Hometown Farmer: Pheasant Farmer Supplies Preserve

Hometown Farmer: Pheasant Farmer Supplies Preserve

(WAKONDA, SD) Adam Nelson has been a full-time farmer for about 10 years, working with row crops, alfalfa, lamb and goats. A few years ago, he got into another aspect of agriculture - pheasant farming. He raises the birds from infancy to supply his family's hunting preserve.

In 2006, Adam Nelson's father and uncle opened Spring Creek Hunting near Wakonda, South Dakota.

"People, just word of mouth, started hearing about us. So we kind of expanded there. Well then there was a need for pheasants so I said, well that's something I think I kind of enjoy and there was a gentleman east of here that kind of got me started and showed me how to do it and it just kind of took off from there," says Adam Nelson.

He now provides birds directly to hunters and releases them on the preserve.

"We can't guarantee you to hit them because that's on your own deal but we'll show you the pheasants," says Nelson.

Adam raises the pheasants from 24 hours old. They spend their first month inside the barn at a steamy 100 degrees.

At about 5 weeks, Adam blinds the birds. This little orange device blocks their eyesight and helps prevent cannibalism while in captivity.

"So we're slowly introducing them outside and then a couple months later, we'll start putting them in the pens," says Nelson.

The first chicks come around the end of May so they're approaching 5 months old when hunting season starts in September.

"If you can find a bird at 20, 21 weeks, they just got a little more muscle to them, they're going to be better flyers," says Nelson.

And Adam is proud that hunters typically can't tell the difference between wild and his released pheasants.

"I want to raise a nice big bird that has good feathers. I want a nice long tail and I want a good breast meat to them," says Nelson.

Perfecting this agricultural niche requires time, patience and perseverance.

"And I'm still learning now. You learn something almost every day with these things," says Nelson.

With fence-line-to-fence-line crop farming, Adam says wild pheasants are hard to come by and the industry needs more producers.

"There's a lot of preserves but not a lot of growers. And that's showing this year. There's a big demand for pheasants," says Nelson.

And he believes birds are an easy way to get involved.

"I think young kinds just need to realize they don't have to farm thousands of acres to be a farmer. Try something small just to get in the agriculture part of it and go from there," says Nelson.

Spring Creek Hunting in Wakonda, South Dakota, is open September through March. If you're interested in recreational pheasant hunting, you can check out the preserve online at www.springcreekhunting.com. 

Reported by Erika Thomas. You can contact her at ethomas@kmeg.com to nominate someone who's Proud to be a Hometown Farmer. The Iowa Broadcast News Association awarded this series 1st place Farm & Agribusiness in 2010.