USDA Awards $51.9 Million to 29 Projects to Combat Feral Swine in 13 States
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in Washington on November 3 that it has awarded $51.9 million to 29 partnership projects in 13 states to help partners respond to the threat feral swine pose to American agriculture, landscapes, and human and livestock health. The projects are part of a broader $105 million investment for the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program, run jointly by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Projects were awarded in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. USDA said the funding was provided by the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which it described as delivering the largest long-term investment in NRCS conservation programs in decades.
"Feral swine pose a threat to America's working lands, and through this program, we're bringing together America's agricultural producers and partners to combat feral swine and protect agricultural landscapes," said NRCS Chief Colton L. Buckley. "The selected projects will take critical steps to eradicate and control feral swine across the nation where their impact is creating the most harm." APHIS Administrator Kelly Moore said APHIS looks forward to continuing to work with NRCS partners to strengthen efforts to eradicate and control feral swine populations for the benefit of agricultural and natural resources.
Examples of the selected projects include three projects by the Texas State Soil & Water Conservation Board across nine counties, aiming to reduce feral swine populations so they can be controlled by trained and equipped local landowners, directly engaging roughly 200 producers and affecting approximately 1 million working acres over five years; four projects by the Alabama Soil & Water Conservation Committee across nine counties, expected to work on at least 100,000 acres and help producers restore land damaged by feral swine; and a Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry project covering 16.6 million acres across 27 parishes in the Red River and Mississippi River basins, with enhanced surveillance and trapping, landowner education, damage assessments, and expanded coordinated removal operations.
USDA said feral swine can seriously damage plant and wildlife habitats, soils, water quality, and other natural resources, and can carry diseases that threaten livestock and people. Selected partners will provide landowner assistance for restoration and on-farm trapping, along with related services such as training, funded through grant agreements with NRCS, and all projects will be a collaborative effort among the partner, NRCS, and APHIS.
Since 2020, NRCS has invested $92.9 million in 63 projects under the pilot program, assisting more than 6,700 landowners on almost 9 million acres, and partners have conducted more than 800 events teaching trapping techniques to landowners, according to USDA.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：野猪在野外觅食（美国农业部 USDA 官方照片、公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons）。 / Photo: Feral swine foraging (U.S. Department of Agriculture official photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).
