Feral hog damage costs US farmers $1.6B/year but no federal crop insurance covers it

Feral hogs cause an estimated $1.6 billion in annual agricultural losses across the U.S., with Texas alone accounting for $871 million. A single sounder of 20-30 hogs can destroy an entire field of corn or peanuts overnight by rooting, trampling, and consuming the crop. Farmers spend an additional $207.5 million per year on control efforts -- trapping, hunting, fencing -- that barely dent a population that reproduces at a rate of 1.5 litters per year with 4-12 piglets per litter. Federal crop insurance does not cover feral hog damage because it is classified as an 'animal' cause of loss, not a weather or natural disaster event. USDA Wildlife Services conducts removal programs but only eliminates roughly 5-10% of the estimated 6+ million feral hogs annually, far below the 70% removal rate scientists say is needed to stabilize the population. Individual farmers cannot coordinate landscape-scale removal because hogs simply move to the next unmanaged property. The problem persists because feral hog management falls between jurisdictions (USDA, state wildlife agencies, individual landowners), no single entity has authority or funding to execute the population-wide removal needed, and recreational hunting interests in some states actively resist eradication efforts.