NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RFD-TV) — With concerns growing over the spread of New World Screwworm, Mexico’s cattle industry could be positioned as a stronger global beef competitor.
Livestock market economist Dr. Darrell Peel says that with U.S. borders still closed to imports, Mexico may look to expand its own processing and export operations.
“We’ve imported cattle from Mexico for many, many years, and then over the years, we’ve developed a very strong bilateral trade with Mexico in beef, both exports and imports,” Dr. Peel explained. “You know, this could have implications for all of those things. If Mexico keeps all these cattle in the country, they do have more infrastructure now to feed cattle and process cattle in Mexico. They are a significant beef-exporting country now.”
Peel says Mexico has a much greater capability to expand its beef industry than it did 20 or 30 years ago in terms of its feeding and packing infrastructure.
“If this goes long enough and they figure out how to deal with these cattle that don’t have the opportunity to be exported to the U.S., it may have very long-lasting, if not permanent, implications for the way that two industries work together going forward on a more or less permanent basis.”
