Pig potion or pork barrel?

Published 4:28 pm Tuesday, February 21, 2017

1. TDA rule change to allow limited use of feral pig toxicant in Texas

Let’s put the brakes on all the excitement over the Texas Department of Agricultural’s limited us of a warfarin-based toxicant to control wild pigs.

There is no doubt that 2 million of the porkers in about 230 of the states 254 counties is way more than we need, but care needs to be taken in what is done to reduce the herd.

Up until today the options have been hunting 24/7, 365 days a year from ground and from air, or traps. Both are limited in the amount of impact they have.

But to be honest man does not have a good track record when it comes to controlling Mother Nature. For example the impact of straightening the Mississippi River on flooding. Ask New Orleans how that worked out.

Or how about kudzu in the early- to mid-20th century to control soil erosion that actually took over the landscape.

The list is never ending.

The pigs may be fun to hunters, bored when deer don’t show up or looking for something to hunt out of season, but to farmers and ranchers they are a serious financial problem.

The question is is Kaput Feral Hog Lure the route to go. Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller seems to think so. He approved the limit use rule, plus he is offering to give the state back the $900,000 his agency currently gets now for wild pig control.

The problem is not a lot of others are jumping onboard his train as it leaves the station. In fact a warfarin-based toxicant seems to have come out of nowhere in Texas where most known instate research has been into a sodium nitrate solution.

I am looking at this issue and will have more of the pros and cons as soon as possible.