Private, Public Cooperators Reduce Missouri Feral Hog Numbers

By Linda Geist

Feral hog occupancy of Missouri watersheds has fallen 84% since 2016, when the state’s Feral Hog Elimination Partnership began.

Funded by the U.S. Farm Bill and managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation, the partnership comprises 18 federal and state entities work together to eliminate feral hogs on public and private lands.

Kevin Crider, University of Missouri Extension cooperative feral hog outreach educator, says 5,105 feral hogs were removed from Missouri watershed areas by aerial operations and trapping in 2024. This compares to 7,880 the previous year. That’s good news: It means the are fewer hogs out there.

“That is a 35% drop in hogs taken off of the landscape. The trajectory is totally in the direction we want to see things moving,” says Crider.

Educators like Crider work with landowners at meetings and one-on-one farm visits. Forty-eight elimination specialists focus on Missouri forests and watersheds, mostly south of Interstate 44. In 2024, elimination specialists scouted nearly 4 million acres to locate and eradicate the feral hogs.

Success attributed to private, public partnerships

Crider credits a large part of the program’s success to the 609 “cooperators” who worked with outreach educators and elimination specialists in 2024. The number of landowners participating in the program has dropped by about half due to its effectiveness.

Retailers who sell agricultural and hunting products have signed on to increase public awareness of the program by placing informational pamphlets in their establishments.

But there is still a lot of work to do, says Crider. “The Missouri Feral Hog Elimination Partnership is still here to address the problems feral hogs present.” says Crider.