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Texas cattle producer says NWS concerns continue

A Texas cattle producer says there continues to be a lot of unknowns when it comes to the movement of New World screwworm.

Stephen Diebel, co-owner and manager of Diebel Cattle Company and first vice president of the Texas & Southwest Cattle Raisers Association, says Mexico doesn’t have official surveillance protocols in place. “The information that we do receive, first of all, is not super timely,” he says.  “And also because of not having any wildlife surveillance in the passive surveillance that’s done with Mexican producers, we really, really don’t understand and know exactly where this problem is.”

He tells Brownfield that a lack of information creates additional challenges for cattle producers along the southern border. “It’s somewhat of a guessing game right now,” he says.  “But we do know that it’s probably going to be sooner than later just because of the proximity of where this pest was last known to be.”

Diebel says it’s critical that facilities can be brought online to help the industry fight against and push back New World screwworm.  “Hopefully, as we continue to communicate with our leaders, domestic production can be funded in a way that we can begin some fly production in a few years,” he says.  “It’s going to take a two to three-year process for the fly production facility itself.”

In June, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announced an $8.5 million sterile insect dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in South Texas.  It is expected to be online by the end of 2025. 

Earlier this week, Secretary Rollins told reporters that the USDA would be making a major announcement in the department’s fight against NWS.