Feral hogs continue to pose challenges for Louisiana’s agriculture sector, and scientists are conducting studies aimed at getting a bait that is lethal to the animals on the market.

LSU AgCenter and LSU Department of Chemistry researchers spent years developing a sodium nitrite-based bait as a control method for feral hog populations, which have soared in recent years and caused extensive damage to crop fields. They were awarded a patent for their product in August 2023.

Since then, they’ve turned their attention to environmental testing, shelf-life studies and bait delivery methods. This ongoing research is critical to the bait ultimately being released to the public, as it first needs a stamp of approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is rigorously reviewing the bait and data from studies on it.

“We are in the process of engaging an EPA consulting firm to guide us through obtaining an Experimental Use Permit for initiating field trials,” said Glen Gentry, interim director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station. An animal scientist, Gentry has been deeply involved in the AgCenter’s research on feral hogs and potential control methods.

After much trial and error, Gentry and his colleagues landed on a bait that entices hogs with a fishy taste. It contains sodium nitrite — a compound that is used as a preservative in foods like bacon and is deadly to hogs. Once they eat the bait, hogs become sleepy and die within three hours.

The bait, which is shaped into golf ball-sized spheres, has a gummy bear-like texture. That’s significant because it keeps the bait from crumbling. And, because sodium nitrite eventually breaks down into benign compounds, there is minimal impact on nontarget species and the environment.

Farmers in Louisiana and throughout rural areas of the U.S. have long sought a solution to feral hogs, which root up crops and cause other problems. AgCenter experts have estimated that the animals are responsible for $91 million in damage annually in Louisiana.

Feral hogs’ rapid reproduction rate has limited the success of other control methods, such as hunting and trapping. Sows can have two litters of about six piglets every year.