Abandoned farmstead, equipment areas, corrals and tail water pits should be allowed to grow up to annual weeds for cover and food. Wetlands and watercourses should be managed for bulrushes and cattails. Large shrubs or trees that would provide both cover and food could be planted around wetlands, streams and in other places where water is available. In all these areas, buckbrush would work well for these plantings. All existing shelterbelts should be preserved, and should be grazed only lightly and when necessary to allow pheasant movement.
Crop variety is also important.
Corn, winter wheat, small grains and many other crops are used as food or cover for pheasants at various times of the year. Crops harvested in the fall should not be plowed until early spring. After harvest, wheat and other small grains provide pheasant cover and food if not plowed until fall or the following spring. Tillage practices that leave stubble and waste grain on the surface are generally good for pheasants. The first cutting of alfalfa each year should be delayed as late as economically possible, and a flushing bar should be used in front of the header.