Wild pigs cause millions of dollars of damage to agriculture industry Invasive wild pigs take a big bite out of farmers’ wallets, causing about $40 million in damages to peanut crops and $61 million to corn crops in 11 states annually. A recent study by University of Georgia researchers reports that the optimum time to prevent potential damage and economic loss from wild pigs is just prior to planting. Lead author Chris Boyce and a team of scientists surveyed damage in 3,000 acres of corn and peanut fields in five counties in central South Carolina. They began ground surveys 10 to 12 days after crops were planted, walking the land and recording the damage they observed. The team repeated the process monthly over the course of two growing seasons, allowing them to identify when and where the damage occurred. Remote cameras capturing the presence and numbers of wild pigs provided supplemental data. The first surveys recorded the most wild pig damage, according to Boyce, an alumnus of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Read more on the UGA News page.
