Hog In The Spotlight
On Feb. 12, members of the Missouri Senate’s Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee held a joint meeting with the House’s Agriculture Policy Committee. The committees met to discuss an important issue facing our state: feral hogs.
For those that don’t know, feral hogs are not your typical Wilbur. These hogs are a wild, invasive species. According to the USDA, there are over 6 million feral hogs spread across 41 states, including Missouri. In 1982, only 17 states had feral hogs. Part of this population boom can be attributed to feral hogs being highly adaptable and prolific breeders. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, one sow can give birth to two litters of around six piglets twice a year. That’s a lot of hogs, and with them spreading in Missouri, we’ve got to do something to get these animals under control or better yet, gone.
To give committee members a better understanding on what can be done to solve the feral hog problem, Dr. Dale Nolte and Michael Bodenchuk came up all the way from Texas. Both have on-the-ground experience dealing with Texas’ feral hog management programs. Dr. Nolte works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while Mr. Bodenchuk is the director of Texas Wildlife Services.
Dr. Nolte began by addressing the concerns posed by feral hogs. According to Dr. Nolte, feral hogs have caused billions of dollars in damages all across the country. They damage crops and have even been known to kill lambs, calves and other young livestock. Feral hogs compete with other wildlife for food and resources, which can harm the delicate balance of an ecosystem. They also carry with them diseases such as swine brucellosis, pseudorabies, trichinosis, foot and mouth and tuberculosis. This threatens not only the safety of Missouri’s domesticated hogs, but also people. While rare, the speaker did mention a case in Texas where a woman was killed by feral hogs.
Now, some have suggested hunting feral hogs in order to eradicate them. Texas, for instance, has the largest estimated feral hog population in the country. The state also has a notable hunting industry centered around these animals. But Mr. Bodenchuk noted that Texas was in no position to eliminate feral hogs by recreational hunting alone. Dr. Nolte and Mr. Bodenchuk are both proponents of trapping feral hogs rather than shooting them. They, along with the Missouri Department of Conservation, maintain that trapping is a more effective means of eradicating feral hogs because it can lead to more hogs being captured at one time. Shooting, it is argued, can scatter groups of hogs and make them harder to find again. I believe this is a hotly contested part of the feral hog debate.
Several lawmakers asked whether exclusively trapping feral hogs could ever lead to eradicating them from the state. They asked what role alternative methods of population control, such as hunting and even birth control for the animals, may play in reducing the number of feral hogs. Dr. Nolte and Mr. Bodenchuk supported trapping as the primary method of reducing feral hog populations, but left room for the possibility of some hunting to help get rid of them. They said many questions remain about the effectiveness of hog birth control.
Ultimately, it’s up to Missouri to decide what to do with its feral hog population. Many want to see these hogs gone, one way or another. Others are interested in reducing their numbers and managing them. This is a debate that will likely continue long after this meeting is over. I want to thank Dr. Nolte and Mr. Bodenchuk for taking time out to help educate Missouri lawmakers on this important issue.
Please feel free to contact my office at (573) 751-2076. For information about my committee assignments or sponsored legislation, please visit my official Missouri Senate website at senate.mo.gov/Bernskoetter.