Source: USDA NRCS, 11/21/19

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today it is awarding $600,000 to fund a pilot project to control feral swine in North Carolina and awarded pilot projects in nine other states across the country.

These projects are part of the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program (FSCP) – a joint effort between USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to help address the threat that feral swine pose to agriculture, ecosystems and human and animal health.

“Feral swine cause significant damage to crops and grazing lands, while also impacting the health of our natural resources,” said NRCS State Conservationist Timothy Beard. “By collaborating with our partners nationally and here in North Carolina, our hope is to control and eradicate this invasive species – improving operations for farmers while also protecting our natural resources for the future.”

NRCS and APHIS are working with North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services on one pilot project in North Carolina to control the feral swine population and reduce potential disease transmission to domestic swine in Sampson County.

NRCS, APHIS and the North Carolina State Technical Agriculture Committee worked together to define the critical areas to be considered for projects within the state.  The North Carolina pilot project runs for three years starting this month. The North Carolina Feral Swine Task Force, and other interest groups have been very active in determining the impacts of feral swine populations on the agricultural industry and private landowners. Utilizing input from the task force and through several stakeholder meetings, partners crafted-out the scope and area of interest for the project. Sampson County was selected for the project due to the size of the feral swine population and the threat feral swine pose to the more than $2 million hog industry in the county.

NRCS is awarding more than $16.7 million this year for feral swine pilot projects in select areas of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. The funding limit for a single award is $1.5 million. Awardees are required to provide at least 25 percent of the partnership agreement budget as a match to NRCS funding.

APHIS is providing $23.3 million this year to the Wildlife Services programs located in the pilot projects states.

The 2018 Farm Bill provides $75 million for the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program. These funds are for the life of the farm bill and divided evenly between NRCS and APHIS.

Additional information on NRCS’ feral swine control work can be found at http://nrcs.usda.gov/fscp>.