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Wild pig populations spreading
Wild hog populations are moving northward into several Corn Belt states, posing a threat to farmland and homes.
Several Midwestern states including Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio are seeing rapid growth of feral hogs. In Missouri, the state conservation department says there are between 5,000 and 10,000 wild hogs right now.
Most wild hogs are in the southern areas of these states in isolated groups, having moved up from Texas and other southern states.
Field Program Supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation, Rex Martensen, told Brownfield Ag News that these hogs can impact Missouri agriculture.
“They’re going to destroy crop fields. They’re going to root up hay pastures,” says Martensen. “They’re going to foul water supplies, ponds, and watering supplies for cattle and sheep and goats and other livestock.”
He said that they pose a threat to agricultural biosecurity.
“There’s always the threat of disease transfer from feral populations to domestic animals,” he said.
Most of these wild hogs have migrated from other southern states and a few cases are from the escape of domesticated hogs.
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