June 17, 2013

1 Min Read
NPPC Supports Feral Swine Program

Last week the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) submitted comments in support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services’ proposal for a national feral swine damage management program.

In its comments, NPPC called for immediate action. NPPC stated the expanded national feral swine damage management program was long overdue, and inaction would increase the risk of damage to agricultural and environmental sectors.

According to NPPC, feral swine are known to exist in 43% of swine-producing counties in the United States. The wild pigs pose a serious disease risk to the domestic swine population, carrying and transferring pseudorabies and brucellosis when they come into contact with domestic hogs.

A pseudorabies outbreak would threaten export markets and cause millions of dollars in economic losses to the pork industry, NPPC says.

Moreover, feral swine populations have grown at an alarming rate and are now found in 38 states, with an estimated population of more than five million animals. The damage to agriculture crops and the environment continues to grow at an alarming rate.

In its June 12 letter to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, NPPC President Randy Spronk urged Wildlife Services to adopt the preferred method of lethal control as it is currently the only effective option for control of feral swine.

To read the NPPC letter, click here.

 

 

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