How Missouri reduced feral hog population by 80%


By Chris Six Missouri Ruralist


Total elimination. That’s the goal for the state of Missouri when it comes to feral hogs.


Alan Leary, the feral hog coordinator with the Missouri Department of Conserva- tion (MDC), says since 2016 the state’s pop- ulation of feral hogs has dropped 80%. “There were about 11.2 million acres occupied by feral hogs in 2016,” he says. “And as of the end of June 2025, it was down to around 2.9 million acres. It’s an 80.4% de- crease in the area occupied.” Missouri farmer Jeff Reed, who also serves as president of the Missouri Cat- tlemen’s Association, was a naysayer about the Missouri Feral Hog Elimination Partner- ship until he saw the results. In 2017, the Wayne County cattle pro-


Wild hogs will eat vulnerable livestock


Wild hogs can and do kill goats, espe- cially young or vulnerable ones, as they are omnivores and opportunistic predators. This predation is a significant problem for livestock producers and often occurs dur- ing birthing seasons. Evidence of predation can include carcasses consumed almost en- tirely, with only the hide left, or indications like the absence of nursing kids on a mother with a swollen udder.


• Opportunistic predators: Wild hogs will attack and eat young or vulnerable live- stock like kids or lambs, as well as adults during the birthing process. • Consumption: They are known to kill and eat baby goats, and some predators may consume the entire carcass, making evidence difficult to find.


• Signs of predation: Farmers may see signs such as hog tracks and droppings, or a lack of offspring from ewes who have had swollen udders but no nursing lamb or kid. • Widespread issue: This problem has been documented in various areas, with re- ports of significant losses for livestock pro- ducers.


• Behavior: While they don’t typically hunt in the traditional sense, they will kill slow or still prey if they are hungry enough. n


December 2025 | Goat Rancher 13


ducer had nearly 400 feral hogs on his farm. He felt the impact on his corn crop. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars,”


Reed says. “You talk about a cornfield that should be averaging 180 bushels to 200 bushels underneath the irrigation pivot, and you’re pulling off 30. I mean, it’s a signifi- cant number.” With the help of multiagency partners, today he sees only one hog that appears every couple of weeks.


This partnership uses traps, drones, hel- icopters and more to find and eliminate the feral hogs.


“The drone will get a GPS coordinate, send that coordinate to the helicopter pilot,


the helicopter goes over and they remove those hogs,” Leary says. “It’s a very efficient operation.”


Both Leary and Reed strongly advise farmers not to shoot hogs on their own but instead call MDC, which works with the landowner for removal. “If you go out and there’s a sounder of 20 hogs, one hunter may remove one or two of them,” Leary says. “But then those other 18 that remain out there continue to repro- duce. Hunting also scatters them, making it more difficult to trap.”


Missouri landowners can report feral hog damage and ask for assistance by calling MDC at 573-522-4115, ext. 3296. n


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