HELOTES, Texas -

A Feral Hog Workshop will be held on Thurs., Sept. 25, 2008 at the 4-H Building, 12132 Leslie Road, in Helotes. Attendees who complete the workshop will receive five hours of continuing education units (CEUs) which include three hours general, one hour laws and regulations and one hour of integrated pest management.

Registration will be at 8:30 a.m. with the first session at 9 a.m. The workshop will provide landowners and land managers an opportunity to learn more about feral hogs, including their population dynamics, regulations and laws for hunting feral swine, agricultural regulations,  controlling feral hogs, hunting and trapping, transportation and holding facilities and diseases. The workshop will wrap up with a speaker panel question and answer session.  

Texas is home to more than 2 million feral hogs, the largest feral hog population in the United States and their numbers continue to increase due to high reproductive potential and the lack of natural predators.

Feral hogs wreak havoc on property, livestock, crops and pastures across the state and frustrate landowners because of their destructive nature. The spread of disease by feral hogs is a major concern with the potential to jeopardize people, livestock and pets. In addition, there is a risk to the pork industry through the potential transmission of disease from feral hogs to domestic swine.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that feral hog damage to agriculture in Texas alone exceeds $52 million annually.  
      
Sponsors include Alamo Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D), USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Alamo Soil and Water Conservation District, Texas Agrilife Extension and Texas/Mexico Border Coalition CBO. 

To reserve your seat for the workshop, contact Annette Pawelek at (210) 467-6575 or mail a check for $20 payable to “Beef Cattle Account” to Texas AgriLife Extension Service, 3355 Cherry Ridge Dr., Suite 212, San Antonio, TX 78230. Registration will includes beverages, lunch and handouts. Deadline to register is Monday, Sept. 22. If reasonable accommodations are required, please notify the Bexar County AgriLife Extension two weeks prior to the event.

For more information on the workshop and/or programs offered through the Alamo RC&D, call (210) 733-1035 or visit the Web site at www.alamorcd.org.