Texas Panhandle cattle industry steps up response to screwworm threat

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - With cattle numbers declining and beef prices on the rise, leaders in the Texas Panhandle are closely monitoring the threat of the New World screwworm.

The screwworm is a destructive parasite that could further disrupt an already strained beef supply.

The Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA) is one of the groups leading the response.

Ben Weinheimer, president and CEO of TCFA says while screwworms have not yet made it to the Texas Panhandle, their movement through southern Mexico is prompting urgent action across the industry.

“During the points and time that the border was open we’ve crossed less than half a million head and in a normal year we would cross approximately 1.1 to 1.2 million head from Mexico,” said Weinheimer.

Weinheimer says majority of those cattle go to the Texas Panhandle.

“That plant in Panama operates at the level that produces 100 million flies per week,” he said. “But as the screwworm fly has moved into southern Mexico, additional capacity for sterile fly production is needed.”

In response, the USDA is working with state veterinarians and livestock leaders to build a new sterile insect dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in Mission, Texas. Once complete, the plant is expected to produce 200 to 300 million sterile flies per week. These sterile males will be released to mate with female flies to prevent reproduction and help push the parasite back into Central America.

Meanwhile, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is promoting a new early detection system known as “Swormlure-5.” It’s a synthetic bait designed to smell like an open wound on an animal.

“We can’t depend on 60-year-old technology to solve this problem, so we’ve been working with the company. He has formulated an attractant for us, it’s called Swormlure-5. We combined that with Dichlorvos, which is an insecticide and we make a bait out of it,“ said Miller.

The goal is to attract the parasite using the scent, and once it’s inside the trap, an insecticide kills it.

“We’re in in contact with Secretary Rollins at the USDA. She’s all on board. We’re in the process of getting this manufactured. She’s going to distribute it for us out of Moore Air Force Base there and in the in the valley,” said Miller.

Miller says deploying new bait could kill off 90% of the screwworm flies and the sterile flies would then be used to knock out the other 10%.

It’s unclear when the traps will be deployed, but the state, feds, and Mexico’s government are still working together to determine potential hot spots.

The concern comes at a time when the U.S. cattle supply is already under pressure.

Weinheimer says U.S. cattle on feed is down 2% compared to last year, and here in Texas, those numbers are down even more at about 8%.

“It’s creating an additional reduction in the available cattle supply and with that very high beef demand. Both cattle prices and beef prices are high and will continue to be here in the foreseeable future,” said Weinheimer.

TCFA recently launched a New World screwworm resource website alongside state coalition to keep the public informed with reliable and trustworthy updates.

“An outbreak of the New World screwworm in the state of Texas is estimated to cost US livestock producers approximately $1 billion and cost the general economy $3.7 billion,” said Senator John Cornyn, (R) Texas.

All the cattle imports from Mexico are still temporarily closed.

Texas is the first in the nation in cattle production producing around $1 billion in revenue.