Deep Dive On Legal TX Hog Poisoning

A hog toxicant has been approved for use in Texas.

We first reported this back in February.

We have recently conducted an in-depth interview with an official from Texas Agrilife on the issue. You can watch it below.

The Kaput Feral Hog Bait came under huge fire from hunters and other wildlife lovers in 2017 but we have learned that it has been approved for “licensed applicators” according to a report from the Texas Farm Bureau.

The below text is directly from a press release from the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller renewed his support for a newly-approved toxicant, Kaput Feral Hog Bait. Kaput will aid Texas farmers, ranchers, and landowners in helping mitigate Texas’ growing feral hog problem. The damage caused by feral hogs, resulting in billions of dollars of long-term economic losses across the state, has been a rising concern since 1982. 

“Feral hogs have been plaguing the agriculture industry for decades with no signs of slowing down,” Commissioner Miller said. “They have caused over $3 billion in crop damage across the US and Texas, not just to farm and ranch land, but to urban areas too. All but one of Texas’ 254 counties have been affected.”

Kaput Feral Hog Bait, produced by Scimetrics Laboratory, was registered for state limited use by licensed pesticide applicators in Texas on February 1st, 2024. For two decades, the development of feral hog bait involved multiple steps including obtaining grant approvals, meetings with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), obtaining EPA use permits, and conducting rigorous studies. Kaput contains warfarin, a substance that is highly toxic to pigs. The bait also includes a fat-soluble dye that turns the internal fat blue, providing hunters with a means to determine whether the pig has ingested the bait.

Commissioner Miller’s vocal support of Kaput is a continuation of his desire for equipping farmers and ranchers with the ability to defend their crops and property from feral hogs. HogStop, an all-natural contraceptive bait, is another bait that Commissioner has supported that is available for use today. HogStop targets the male hog’s prodigious ability to reproduce. Feral hogs have the highest reproduction rate of any similar species and can produce a new litter every three months or so and can produce litters of up to 20.

According to the TDA report, Kaput will be available for use this spring.

TF&G received a report of a hog killed in the Panhandle that had purple color throughout its innards. We are currently trying to contact experts to see if this is related to toxicant usage, perhaps from a testing location.

We will keep you updated as this issue progresses.