The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $6.3 million to four Texas projects aimed at controlling feral swine, the agency announced Nov. 6. Three projects will help landowners coordinate control efforts across nine counties. A fourth will investigate whether any feral swine remain in Sherman County.
Three projects will work with landowners
The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board will lead projects covering Baylor, Brown, Coleman, Fannin, Haskell, Knox, Lamar, Runnels and Red River counties. The board expects to work directly with roughly 200 producers over five years. USDA estimates the projects could affect approximately 1 million acres of working land. Those figures describe the planned reach of the work.
The projects are intended to reduce feral swine numbers and equip landowners to continue managing them. USDA says its partners can provide assistance with on-farm trapping, restoration and training. Coordinating the work matters because animals can move across property lines, while landowners generally manage individual farms or ranches.
Sherman County has a different assignment
White Buffalo Inc. will lead the Sherman County project. Its job is to investigate reports, support two federal aerial surveys, and determine whether feral swine remain. USDA describes that project as a search and verification effort. If it finds animals, the project is intended to remove them and document how other counties could verify local elimination.
The Texas awards are part of a $51.9 million round covering 29 projects in 13 states, also reported by Western Livestock Journal. USDA says feral swine can damage soils, habitats and water quality and carry diseases that affect livestock and people. In Texas, the practical measures to watch are how many landowners take part and whether the Sherman County surveys detect any remaining animals.