State agriculture officials say more than 7,150 feral hogs were killed as part of a competition to curb their numbers and limit the hundreds of millions of dollars in damage caused to crops and ranchland every year.
The Texas Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that Sutton County in West Texas won the $20,000 first-place prize in the Hog Out Challenge.
The contest ran from October through December. Five other counties will share the remainder of the $60,000 in awards.
The results were based on a formula that considers the number of animals killed and participation by ranchers and others in educational programs. Since the challenge began in 2010, 23,684 hogs have been killed.
An estimated 2.6 million hogs cause $550 million in damage annually in Texas.
