Watonga FFA Student Makes Sale with Innovative Hog Trap

WATONGA – Watonga’s own Reese Coleman won reserve breed champion Southdown at the Oklahoma Youth Expo this year, but she wasn’t the only FFA student to make sale. Dakota Cox didn’t take an animal there this year, but his hog trap won awards and made the OYE Ag Mechanics sale.

Cox’s trap won first in his class and fourth overall in his division.

Cox told the Watonga Republican he’s been attending OYE, the world’s largest junior livestock show, and showing pigs since he was a young child. This was his first year to enter the Ag Mechanics show, which grades devices based on quality, performance and other factors.

Cox said he was “very happy and surprised” when his trap made the sale. “It was very exciting.”

Now, Cox’s hog trap is on sale and in the Watonga ag building for anyone who wants to take a look. It is 120 feet and made up of 10 12x5 ft. panels and a 6x6 Hogg Boss gate.

The trap is designed to help alleviate local population of feral hogs, an invasive nuisance that’s getting worse in Oklahoma and throughout the region.

“They’re getting very big around here,” Cox said, adding that he got the idea for the trap from his dad.

Anyone interested in purchasing the trap can bid at www.bigiron.com/Lots/202 2120HogTrap. The auction opened on March 23 and ends on April 19.

As of March 29, the current bid on the trap is $600. The auction site says proceeds will go to the local FFA chapter and a scholarship program.