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Protocols in place to allow live cattle imports from Mexico to resume
Imports of live cattle from Mexico are set to slowly resume this week after a two-month pause following the detection of New World Screwworm on Mexico’s southern border.
Ethan Lane, vice president of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, says this is good news. “The protein supply chain is tight at the moment,” he says. “So every every pound or every billion pounds of of beef matters.”
He tells Brownfield those cattle are regionally important. “Those Mexican cattle crossing the border are going into US producers’ operations,” he says. “And a lot of value is being added to those animals here in the US before they go on to harvest.”
But, Lane says with the protocols that have been established there won’t be a flood of cattle entering the market. “Those protocols require a multi-day stay on the Mexican side of the border and preclearance pens before they can go out to the port and finally receive clearance,” he says. “So it is something on the order of a seven-day process for those cattle actually to cross.”
Lane says the resumption of trade and the tariff conversations will be two of the biggest issues on cattlemen’s minds this week in San Antonio.
AUDIO: Ethan Lane, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
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