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Posted on Mar 26, 2018 in Audio, Editorial, Featured, Your Texas Agriculture Minute

YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

 

Corn planting is a wild hog buffet

By Gene Hall

Corn is being planted across Texas right now, and thousands of farmers are reminded once again how serious the wild hog problem is in our state. It is not uncommon for farmers to plant two or three times and try to keep the hogs off the crop.

When I say things like that, hunting enthusiasts usually respond that we just need to shoot more of them. Landowners have many volunteers. Clearly, that will not work as the only means of control. They breed too prolifically to keep up that way.

One farmer told me he trapped and killed 60 wild hogs on his land recently. He has not noticed any decline in hog damage. In some parts of Texas, farmers have stopped trying to grow corn.

On the research front, there are several options for poison baits selective for hogs. Some are not yet approved. We are going to need all of these methods if we are to control wild hogs.

Meanwhile, this invasive and dangerous species is moving in on suburban Texas. They are rapidly becoming everyone’s problem.

The preceding commentary is brought to you by Texas Farm Bureau, the “Voice of Texas Agriculture.” Called “Your Texas Agriculture Minute,” TFB will issue thought-provoking editorials each week—via print and audio—to spark understanding of agriculture in the Lone Star State and its impact on each and every Texan.

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