Ranchers say they see benefits from all-natural hog contraceptive bait

(KLTV) - Feral hogs are known to cause all kinds of problems in East Texas. They’re known to damage land, carry diseases, and consistently breed.

To control the problem, a contraceptive bait was created and placed on the market in June of 2021. And after a year and a half, the creators of the bait say ranchers are seeing the benefits.

The feral hog birth control bait is called HogStop. It impacts hogs more than any other species and affects male sperm production.

“We’re not hormones, we’re not chemicals, we’re just actually commonly fed feed ingredients. We’re a minimum risk pesticide designation by the EPA.”

Co-founder Daniel Loper says the bait has created a push and pull affect.

“It actually pulls the hogs to the part of your property that the feeders are on. So, they’ll come in, they’ll eat. and one rancher that we worked with actually was really great and had a game camera set on for a year so he could show no new piglets were born for the whole year.”

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says the rancher also saw another benefit.

“The hogs quit eating his crop because they’re coming to the feeder and eating the corn laced with the HogStop. So you got a double benefit out of it. It kept him from ruining his crops plus he has dwindling numbers of feral hogs on his place.”

The hogs would then push out of the other side of the property where the ranchers hunt.

“They adapt to that pressure. So if you start hunting them to the day, they go nocturnal. If you hunt them at night, they move out of the area. They’re not dumb creatures that are going to stay in the area. They’re going to adapt to what you’re doing.”

HogStop is mainly private use, but Loper says the main objective they get is farmers want it to be a government program since the hogs will travel. So Loper recommends ranchers to fill up the feeders once a month.

“They’ll come through your property, they’ll eat it, they’ll go on. And they’ll be infertile for the next month, 8 weeks.”

The bait is about 23 dollars per 50 lb bag. Loper says the price did double in the last year, but it hasn’t stopped people from purchasing.

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