A new grant from the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation will provide the state's feral hog strike team with additional trapping equipment to trap hogs on private and public land.
The Conservation Heritage Foundation grant includes $79,500 and an additional in-kind contribution in the form of labor and equipment equaling a total value of $132,900.
Brent Vandeloecht, Department of Conservation agriculture liaison, said the grant will provide 60 additional traps, building materials and trail cameras for the feral hog strike team to assist landowners with feral hog problems. The grant also includes efforts to help spread the educational message that feral hogs are bad for Missouri.
“We continue to have success eliminating hogs and educating the public on the need to continue elimination efforts,” Vandeloecht said. "The grant and the collaboration with our partners ensure the success will continue and we can work with even more private landowners to relieve hog damage on both private and public land.”
Organizations partnering with the Department of Conservation and Conservation Heritage Foundation to provide resources for trapping on private and public land and fund public education efforts include the Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Corn Growers Association, Missouri Soybean Association, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, Missouri Cattlemen's Association, MFA, Missouri Pork Association;
Missouri Agribusiness Association, National Wild Turkey Federation, Quality Deer Management Association, Quail Forever, Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation, Missouri Rural Water Association, Kansas City Agribusiness Club, Saint Louis Agribusiness Club, Missouri Farmers Care, Missouri Department of Natural Resources:
Missouri Department of Agriculture, Conservation Federation of Missouri Charitable Trust, AgriServices of Brunswick, Missouri Forest Products Association, Honey Creek Media, Association of Missouri Electrical Cooperatives (AMEC), and LAD Foundation.
Feral hogs are not wildlife, and are a serious threat as their range has expanded in the U.S. from 17 to 38 states over the past 30 years, according to Vandeloecht. Their populations grow rapidly because feral hogs can breed any time of year and produce two litters of one to seven piglets every 12 to 15 months.
Economic loss from feral hog damage in the U.S. is estimated at more than 1.5 billion dollars per year.
Feral hogs damage property, agriculture and natural resources by aggressive rooting of soil in addition to trampling and consumption of crops as part of their daily search for food.
They also will eat young wildlife, such as turkey poults and new fawns. Feral hogs are also known to carry diseases such as swine brucellosis, pseudorabies, trichinosis and leptospirosis, which are a threat to Missouri agriculture and human health.
"Research shows about 70 percent of the feral hog population needs to be removed yearly to keep populations of feral hogs from increasing," Vandeloecht said. "We cannot achieve that without this partnership to increase equipment availability and we won't achieve that without continued education and cooperation with the public."
The Department of Conservation asks landowners to report and not shoot feral hogs. By reporting hog sightings, landowners can receive assistance in trapping the full sounder of feral hogs on their land.
For more information on feral hogs in Missouri, or to report a sighting online, visit mdc.mo.gov/feralhog.