Sale of feral hog bait put on hold in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — A grand experiment by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller to hasten “the feral hog apocalypse” is on hold after the company producing a bait meant to poison the destructive animals has asked the Texas Agriculture Department to withdraw its approval of the product.

The rollout of the product, Kaput Feral Hog Bait, had faced wide skepticism from hunters, environmentalists and meat processing plants after its promotion by Miller in February. Amid the pushback, the product has never been available for sale in Texas.

The Texas House, meanwhile, quickly moved to pass a measure that called for further study of the product before its use.

“As Texas Agriculture Commissioner, I am disappointed that landowners, farmers and ranchers will lose this tool to fight back against the growing economic threat of feral hogs,” Miller, who had registered the product for use in Texas — the only state to allow its use, said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, it seems that once again the hardworking folks who turn the dirt and work from sunup to sundown have fallen victim to lawyers, environmental radicals and the misinformed. Once again, politically correct urban media hacks and naysayers win out against the rural folks who produce the food and fiber everyone needs.

“This is just another kick in the teeth for rural Texas,” he said.

But Miller himself was widely criticized for the way he seemingly rushed out the product’s approval in February, alienating even natural allies and key lawmakers concerned about the non-native invasive hogs, which cause tens of millions of dollars in damage annually to farms and golf courses.

“The way the commissioner introduced it was unfortunate,” state Rep. Tracy O. King, DBatesville, chairman of the House Agriculture and Livestock Committee, told lawmakers on the House floor earlier this month.

And Rep. John Cyrier, RLockhart, who also serves on the agriculture committee and whose district, to the east and south of Austin, has long had to reckon with feral hog destruction, said the commissioner never gave him a heads-up about the product.

A Texas Farm Bureau official had offered the agriculture commissioner support, but it sounded less than full-throated.

Miller told the Austin American-Statesman earlier this month that he regretted the “feral hog apocalypse” comment — but at that point his office was in damage control.

The warfarin-laced bait is meant to target the hogs, but opponents of the product said it had been loosely vetted and could lead to the harming of other wildlife.