New efforts are underway in Mexico to bring the New World Screwworm under control. USDA is spending money to breed sterile flies, a popular control method for the pest.
It is welcome news to producers in cattle country, including Texas, where ag economists warn the costs of a U.S.-based outbreak would be detrimental.
“For Texas alone in 2024, if we had New World Screwworm at the rates that we saw in the past, it’d be $1.8 billion to the Texas economy and about $732 million just for the producers,” said Elliott Dennis.
Dennis says the pest can wipe out as much as 60 percent of an animal’s value.
Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins is also weighing in, and she echoes the recent warnings.
“The NWS is a scourge that is making its way from Latin America up through Mexico, and if it hits America, it is going to be absolutely devastating to our cattle industry. At the top of the list, frankly. So a lot of our industries.”
Mexico and the U.S. are renovating an existing fruit fly facility. Once running, it will produce up to 100 million sterile flies each week. This kind of population control is a popular form of eradication.
Cattle imports from Mexico have been suspended since earlier this month. However, USDA’s Chief Veterinarian says they could resume by the end of the year. She tells Reuters that the Department will not resume imports until they are comfortable with Mexico’s surveillance. Right now, imports are suspended indefinitely on a monthly basis.
Border closures tied to the threat of New World Screwworm continue to stall Mexican fed cattle imports, tightening U.S. feeder cattle supplies over time — triggering feedlot closures that hinder herd rebuilding efforts, threaten the beef supply chain, and shrink production while consumer prices stay elevated.
February 23, 2026 01:40 PM
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Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller joins us to discuss the cattle herd rebuild, trade concerns, and how ranchers would define “America First” policy priorities.
February 13, 2026 12:50 PM
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The USDA opened a new sterile fly-dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in South Texas to prevent a potential outbreak of New World screwworm and protect the small U.S. cattle herd.
February 12, 2026 10:47 AM
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RFD NEWS Correspondent Frank McCaffrey was in Mission, Texas, where state and federal officials addressed growers and producers at a round table event hosted at a citrus grower’s facility. He shows us how welcome news was all around.
February 10, 2026 12:05 PM
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Top issues facing the beef industry took center stage at CattleCon this year in Nashville.
February 06, 2026 04:58 PM
Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who sits on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, spoke exclusively with RFD NEWS about what Congress is doing to address screwworm concerns, including funding for a sterile fly production facility in Mexico.
February 06, 2026 12:07 PM
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HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy calls on cattle producers to retain breeding cows while Ivomec receives emergency authorization to prevent New World screwworm.
February 06, 2026 11:48 AM
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Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller discusses the state’s latest efforts to prevent the New World screwworm from reaching Texas.
February 02, 2026 12:22 PM
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Early indications suggest the U.S. cattle industry may be nearing the end of its liquidation phase. Oklahoma State University livestock economist Dr. Derrell Peel says the industry could be at or near the cyclical low.
January 29, 2026 12:44 PM
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