STARR COUNTY, Texas (RFD News) — At Triple G Livestock Auction, business has remained steady despite concerns that New World screwworm could eventually impact both the auction and nearby businesses.
Zulma Garza with Zulma’s Mexican Restaurant says the issue has not affected business yet, but she expects that could change.
“At this time, it’s not affecting yet, but we’re pretty sure it will in the future. This is something that it’s going to affect the whole industry.”
Auction attendee Rick Salinas says that keeping animals on thousands of acres can be difficult, especially if quarantines limit sales.
“When we got the last notice out of Zavala County, I got a little bit scared because none of us want to be afflicted with a quarantine, you know what I mean? We’ve got to keep our animals, we can’t sell them. When you don’t have enough grass to graze them on, you gotta buy the bales.”
For now, Billy Guerra with Triple G Livestock Auction says there are no signs of slowing down.
“We haven’t had any cases here in this area, and so far, producers are bringing in cattle pretty much as normal, and we thought we might see an influx of more cattle coming in to try to get ahead of it, but really, we’re seeing about the same number, you know, average number that we’ve seen so far.”
Guerra said there could be market fluctuations if New World screwworm becomes more widespread in the area, but he expects any impact to be temporary. He also said other sale barns in Texas already dealing with the issue have reported business as usual.
USDA and state officials are also maintaining extra vigilance at sale barns.
