Feral hog removal among webinar topics

FREDERICK – Wild hogs are a major problem for the agricultural community, as well as some urban communities, causing about $2 billion in damage to U.S. land and crops each year. Feral hogs pose disease risks to livestock, pets and humans.

The Feral Swine Eradication Project, as well as topics including grazing management, cover crops and no-till for soil health benefits, and USDA Farm Bill updates, will be addressed in a Frederick Free Webinar next month.

The free webinar, courtesy of the Oklahoma Tribal Conservation Advisory Council, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 25 by connecting to the Zoom Webinar (see registration information below). This workshop was originally scheduled for April 7 in Frederick but was postponed because of the coronavirus health crisis.

During this webinar, agencies will provide updates on available assistance and programs and participants will receive information regarding USDA Farm Bill.

Trey Lam, executive director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission (OCC), will speak about the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program (FSCP). There are two projects and one of those, the Western Red River, includes Harmon, Jackson, Cotton and Tillman counties. The other project is in far northern Oklahoma in Kay County.

Creation of a “feral swine free zone” along the Red River is a goal of a three-year pilot project administered by the OCC with a $1.04 million grant from the USDA.

The Western Red River watershed is targeted in a multi-state effort of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and Texas conservation partners in an effort to “significantly reduce the feral swine population where the invasive species has created substantial economic losses,” OCC public information officer Bryan Painter said.

The Feral Swine Eradication Project is expected to span 36 months, said Lisa Knauf Owen, assistant director of the Conservation Commission. Afterward, it is the OCC’s goal “to have a self-sustaining feral swine control program administered by local conservation districts,” she said.

The Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program (FSCP) is a joint effort between USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to help address the threat that feral swine pose to agriculture, ecosystems and human and animal health.