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PHILADELPHIA, Miss. — Speaking at the historic Neshoba County Fair Pavilion on Founders Square today, Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson announced ‘The Commissioner’s Wild Hog Challenge,’ a new initiative to help protect Mississippi’s agriculture from nuisance wild hogs. The Commissioner’s Wild Hog Challenge was initiated to raise awareness of wild hogs and their significant negative impact on agriculture.
Wild hogs cause more than $60 million in property damage in Mississippi each year damaging row crops, pastures and forestlands. Wild hogs also carry harmful diseases and eat the eggs of many wildlife species.
“Wild hogs are destroying crops, pastures and forestlands all across the state. As part of the Wild Hog Challenge, I want the public to understand just how much these nuisance animals are costing our farmers and landowners,” said Commissioner Gipson.
Gipson invited the public to participate in the Challenge by uploading photos of wild hogs harvested and/or trapped between August 1 and September 30 to a new section of the department’s website www.mdac.ms.gov/wildhogchallenge. The harvest must take place on Mississippi agricultural lands such as row crops, pasture, and working timberland.
Each participant in the challenge will be entered into a drawing for a wild hog trapping system donated by HogEye, a $6,000 value. In addition, the participant that provides evidence of the heaviest wild hog harvested will win his/her choice of a Ruger 350 Legend or a Diamondback 300 Blackout donated by Central Mississippi Friends of NRA, valued up to $775.
Winners of the Commissioner’s Wild Hog Challenge will be announced during the Mississippi State Fair in October. For more information, visit www.mdac.ms.gov/wildhogchallenge.
