Why were they shuttered, who owned them?

AlaskanAg99 said:

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Why were they shuttered, who owned them?

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Because the Panama containment zone made them unnecessary...until they were necessary. Pretty sure they were jointly owned by the governments and the US. Basically, they operated them, and we subsidized the production.

If it weren't for the disruption caused by COVID, this wouldn't be a conversation we are having. The flies live 3 weeks max. That's why it took so long to migrate back up to us.

It has begun...the issue will be when the hog and poultry prices start climbing rapidly to replace the consumer demand for beef if it gets too high. PRRS is still a big issue in swine production right now. Not much AI in poultry currently, but that can change quickly given the weather we're moving into.

Buck Turgidson said:

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bonfarr said:

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Rip is gonna need to dig a bigger trench.

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Wasn't that hoof and mouth?

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Yes it was. Now a Screw Worm outbreak they ain't never going to be able to make it work. Wildfire drove them to Texas and hoof and mouth and now this. Thoughts and prayers. At least maybe their vet will keep silent on the outbreak and let them cover it up like he did the hoof and mouth.

oldord said:

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itsyourboypookie said:

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Cattle prices down. Shouldn't prices go the other way?

Do they think this will tank demand?

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Once quarantine goes in place, prices should come back up. I sure as hell hope so. I'm shipping first of September.

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Sell them now with superior and ship them in September

Gaeilge said:

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It has begun...the issue will be when the hog and poultry prices start climbing rapidly to replace the consumer demand for beef if it gets too high. PRRS is still a big issue in swine production right now. Not much AI in poultry currently, but that can change quickly given the weather we're moving into.

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AI doesn't really affect chicken prices very much. Eggs are another story, but not many people are replacing beef with eggs.

Given the sheer volume of broiler production in the US, I tend to agree. There's a plethora of issues that can arise. We all know that broilers aren't immune to it and can wipe a complex out if not contained.

Hell, I was at Sanderson in 09 (I think) when they had an LT outbreak that made life an absolute living hell because the Waco and Bryan complexes' growers are all on top of each other, and the biosecurity plan was absolutely ****ed.

I've read we've been releasing around 10,000,000 sterile flies per week for the past several months or longer. Is that not enough to crash the population?

Tampico to Brownsville is 250 miles.

Maybe the flies released that far south is inadequate.

This whole sterile flies thing is completely new to me and amazing. Science is cool.

HTownAg98 said:

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Depends on where you are in the state. There are portions of South Texas where you can drive for miles and not see a low fence. It's going to be more about those landowners protecting their herds. If this hits the state wild hog population, I doubt people will complain much.

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They should. If it becomes endemic in the wild hog population it will take years if not decades and billions of dollars to get it out of the US

909Ag2006 said:

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I've read we've been releasing around 10,000,000 sterile flies per week for the past several months or longer. Is that not enough to crash the population?

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USDA has been releasing 100 million sterile flies per week in Mexico and Texas. Likely why the fly wasn't here earlier.

bobbranco said:

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Tampico to Brownsville is 250 miles.

Maybe the flies released that far south is inadequate.

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They have these things called airplanes that they can load the flies onto and drop then where they are needed. It's not like they open a door from the facility and just set them free.

HTownAg98 said:

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bobbranco said:

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Tampico to Brownsville is 250 miles.

Maybe the flies released that far south is inadequate.

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They have these things called airplanes that they can load the flies onto and drop then where they are needed. It's not like they open a door from the facility and just set them free.

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Flying airplanes seem redundant.

No different than when you see a pilot deadheading in passenger part of an airplane.

HTownAg98 said:

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bobbranco said:

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Tampico to Brownsville is 250 miles.

Maybe the flies released that far south is inadequate.

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They have these things called airplanes that they can load the flies onto and drop then where they are needed. It's not like they open a door from the facility and just set them free.

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HTownAg98 said:

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bobbranco said:

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Tampico to Brownsville is 250 miles.

Maybe the flies released that far south is inadequate.

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They have these things called airplanes that they can load the flies onto and drop then where they are needed. It's not like they open a door from the facility and just set them free.

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But how long does it take to check all of those boarding passes? Seems inefficient to me.

Muy said:

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This whole sterile flies thing is completely new to me and amazing. Science is cool.

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It works because the female fly only mates once. So you flood the zone with irradiated (sterile) males that compete with the non-irradiated native males. Females that mate with the irradiated males produce no offspring. Over time screwworm reproduction and population collapses.

bonfarr said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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bobbranco said:

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Tampico to Brownsville is 250 miles.

Maybe the flies released that far south is inadequate.

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They have these things called airplanes that they can load the flies onto and drop then where they are needed. It's not like they open a door from the facility and just set them free.

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But how long does it take to check all of those boarding passes? Seems inefficient to me.

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They are VIPs and fly private charter. You've never catch a sterile fly on a commercial flight.

Tyrannosaurus Ross said:

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Muy said:

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This whole sterile flies thing is completely new to me and amazing. Science is cool.

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It works because the female fly only mates once. So you flood the zone with irradiated (sterile) males that compete with the non-irradiated native males. Females that mate with the irradiated males produce no offspring. Over time screwworm reproduction and population collapses.

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There was an outbreak in S Texas in the early 70's, I believe. This method was used and solved the problem quite effectively.

Correct. It decimated the whitetail population in our area and ranchers had to do basically daily rides to look for livestock (mostly sheep at our location) with any visible wounds and apply a topical treatment. Eventually the sterile fly program eradicated the problem.

Hopefully we don't have that sort of outbreak again for the wildlife's and livestock's sake...

What I described is the entire basis for all successful screwworm eradication programs. There's a book called The Peaceful Atom and the Deadly Fly about this written in the 70s. The process was first developed by Aggie entomologist Edward Knipling '30. Met him one time in the mid-90s.

No surprise here: more misinformation from @TheDemocrats designed to EVADE any accountability and DISTRACT from the facts by misinforming the public.

Read the thread below for the FACTS: ⬇️🤔 https://t.co/bvCv60FZEh

— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 4, 2026

(2/4) USDA knew the threat was coming. In fact, virtually every model projected New World Screwworm could reach the United States by the summer of 2025.  
  
But it didn't. Why?

Because the Trump Administration moved aggressively to slow its advance.

Expanding sterile fly…

— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 4, 2026

They will go for wounds and moist openings in almost any warm blooded animal. They prefer mammals but birds I don't think are off limits. It's usually an open wound but I believe eyes, nostrils, etc are not necessarily off limits to infection.

Humans, pets, livestock, wildlife are all under threat of nasty infected wounds if this parasite returns.

(4/4) The threat didn't appear overnight. Neither did the response.  
  
The Trump Administration inherited a pest moving steadily north toward our border.

Since January 20, 2025, USDA has been executing the most aggressive New World Screwworm response in decades.   
  
And…

— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 4, 2026

It feels like there is either
a) a massive intel operation by ? to harm the US meat and poultry industry in the US. Fires destroying chicken and pork processing plants. Biden admin aggressively forcing US meat producers to cull their herds because of some issue. The meat packing plants are down to just a handful of companies that fix pricing at low levels to the ranchers. Other countries are banning our meat and poultry and pretending its because of legit issues.
b) or we had a string of bad luck and terrible federal management.

The worm dies at 46 degree temps. It won't overrun the USA.

Adult flies don't do well in temps above 95 degrees.

Is the government going to quarantine the livestock in affected areas? Or will those ranches still be shipping cattle north?

Sort of. Everything in a 12-mile radius is quarantined, but you can move cattle with inspections.

HTownAg98 said:

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bobbranco said:

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Tampico to Brownsville is 250 miles.

Maybe the flies released that far south is inadequate.

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They have these things called airplanes that they can load the flies onto and drop then where they are needed. It's not like they open a door from the facility and just set them free.

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I hope they spread them around effectively.

Second instance of screwworm parasite identified in Texas: sources

— FinancialJuice (@financialjuice) June 5, 2026

If they would start bombing along tick quarantine corridor between Rio Grande and 83 that would be a wonderful thing. Back in the day they flew I think Pipers very low and dropped those boxes full of sterile male flies.

There have been more than what are being reported…

I think second case is in Dilley.