Destructive ‘Super Pigs’ From Canada Threaten the Northern U.S.

Feb 27, 2023

Wild pigs have terrorized the southern United States for decades, destroying farmers’ crops, preying on native species and carrying a variety of pathogens that can spread to humans. The animals have mostly stuck to warmer regions, such as Texas and Florida, but they still manage to cause an estimated $2.1 billion in damage every year.

Now, colder regions of the U.S. could soon be staring down their own swine foes: Canadian “super pigs.” These giant, intelligent hybrids of domestic pigs and wild boars are poised to invade from the north.

“We have already documented pig occurrences less than ten miles from the U.S. border. Quite honestly, I think there have already been some in Manitoba going into North Dakota for the last five or six years,” Ryan Brook, who leads the University of Saskatchewan’s Canadian Wild Pig Research Project, tells Field and Stream’s Sage Marshall. “There is no physical, biological boundary at the U.S.-Canada border. There is hardly any kind of fencing to speak of. There’s a real risk of pigs moving south into the U.S.”

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.