Agricultural News
Oklahoma Farm Bureau Submits Comments at Feral Swine Forum
Wed, 01 Jul 2015 14:56:37 CDT
The following are the written comments submitted by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau to the Oklahoma Board of Agriculture at a public forum on Tuesday in Oklahoma City:
"The Oklahoma Farm Bureau is a grassroots, membership-based organization with approximately 100,000 member families. We represent farmers and ranchers statewide and the largest population of landowners of any organization in the state. While we know thirty percent of wild hog herds carry disease, we also know that wild hog herds cause one hundred percent destruction. There is no doubt feral hogs cause major damage to the private property of our membership, especially to crop and hay fields.
"As a grassroots organization, OFB's policy positions come directly from our membership. These policy positions are updated annually. Our membership has made it clear the dumping of wild hogs for later hunting by sportsmen should be punishable by state law. Further, the State of Oklahoma should make a concentrated effort to eradicate wild hogs.
"We believe the way feral swine sport hunting is practiced right now is not an effective population control method. Some trappers are only interested in certain types of hogs, particularly the large hogs versus piglets. There are also concerns that high fence hunting facilities allow feral swine to escape under fences and continue to propagate.
"Due to the direction given to us by our members, we support the following:
"1) No transport of feral hogs to be used for sporting purposes.
"2) Trapped feral hogs must be taken immediately to a slaughter facility upon capture.
"3) A landowner or his designee may kill feral swine on private property. Designees should have the written permission of the landowner and be required to have a permit, issued by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, in their possession at the time of killing the feral swine.
"It's important to note, Kansas has a complete ban on the movement of feral hogs to be used for sporting purposes. The eradication of feral hogs is a critical issue facing Oklahoma farming and ranching today. It's vital any solution take into account the preservation of private property rights and the protection of agriculture as Oklahoma's second largest industry."
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