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The timing of the border reopening matters

An ag economist says the timing of the border reopening to live cattle imports from Mexico matters. Charley Martinez, director of the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management says the majority of imports come during the fall and the spring.

“By us having this phased opening by the end of August and we get into the fall run, it allows those animals to kind of go to their normal marketplaces that they would have normally been going to,” he says.  “So it kind of helps alleviate some of that kind of efficiency within the supply chain.”

He tells Brownfield the change in seasons will also provide some support as trade resumes. “If we think about New World Screwworm and when does it kind of quote unquote subside, it’s when we get to those cooler temperatures,” he says. “So the Panhandle, for instance, might get there end of October, early November. By that time, we’d be within two months of opening back up and maybe we can get some cattle up that way.”

The USDA has August 24^th as the target date to reopen the Douglas, Arizona port of entry.

But, the department says the timeline remains contingent upon continued progress by Mexico and ongoing risk assessments.