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Texas Agriculture Archive

March 3, 2006

TDA awards $500,000
for feral hog research

The Texas Department of Agriculture has awarded $500,000 in grants to Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University to launch research efforts on the state's feral hog problem. Funds for the pilot program were appropriated to TDA by the Texas Legislature during the 79th legislative session in 2005.

"Texas has the dubious distinction of being the feral hog capital of the United States, with an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million hogs. This is a serious problem, with the hogs destroying pastures and spreading disease to livestock statewide," said Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs. "I am pleased that A&M and Texas Tech will be tackling this issue head-on and using their research to formulate possible statewide solutions."

TDA awarded $390,500 to Texas A&M University to conduct a research project to assess feral hog damage to crops, evaluate control efforts and measure economic impact. Groups of landowners in three different ecological regions—East Texas, Central Texas and the Coastal Bend region—will be selected to participate in an aggressive pilot program that involves various forms of trapping technologies. The efforts will be conducted by Texas Cooperative Extension's Wildlife and Fisheries Unit and Wildlife Services. The results will be distributed to landowners and the general public through workshops and field days following the project's completion.

TDA awarded $109,500 to Texas Tech University to develop pheromone and odor combinations that can be used to attract feral hogs to traps and other control locations. The grant will also be used to research reproductive control methods. The long-term goal is to apply these methods on a large-scale basis in Texas.

With their high reproductive potential and very few natural predators, feral hog populations have rapidly increased over the last 25 years. Annual economic damage caused by feral hogs is estimated at $51.7 million.