Starting Monday, the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce will open its application period for the Wild Hog Control Program to Mississippi landowners.

This program provides “smart” wild hog traps to capture the animals that cause more than $60 million worth of damages annually in just Mississippi. The selected landowners of private agricultural and forestry lands will receive training and guidance from the MDAC to most effectively control wild hogs on their land.

State Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson said this equates to thousands of future wild hogs prevented.

“The Wild Hog Control Program has been a great success so far,” Gipson said. “During this next trapping period, we should exceed 1,000 wild hogs captured since we started the program.”

MDAC staff members will be in attendance at the Mississippi Agriculture and Outdoor Expo inside the Mississippi Trade Mart on Aug. 6 through 8, and available to answer questions about the program. They will also be teaching about effective trapping methods.

Selected applicants will be decided by the number of acres available for trapping, historical agricultural losses caused by wild hogs, and current trapping efforts. If one receives a trap, it will be available for one-month intervals and continued use will be dependent on success and frequency of use. One thousand acres is recommended per trap.

Applications will be available through Aug. 9. Landowners and managers can apply here.