The Missouri Cattlemen’s Association is against the Missouri Department of Conservation’s ban on hunting feral hogs on public land which requires landowners to have a permit for thermal scopes and other equipment for hunting on their land.

Jeff Reed with Rolling Shoals Farm in Williamsville says his cow-calf operation is surrounded by Mark Twain National Forest which has become a harbor for feral hogs, which have caused a lot of damage, “We can document 40 to 50 Thousand dollars in loss, each year, to the feral hog.”

Reed says the Conservation Department has tried to trap the animals but with little success because of how smart the hogs are and the difficulty of moving the large metal traps in wooded areas. He tells Brownfield the department should not require landowners to have a…