Beef supplies remain extremely low in the United States and beef prices at the grocery store and meat counter are sky high. One of the contributing factors to high prices for beef is the closed Mexico-United States border, which has stopped the importation of Mexican feeder cattle.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has stated that until the sterile fly facilities in Mexico and Texas can increase production to battle New World Screwworm flies, the border will remain closed. USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Dudley Hoskins says the existing facilities in Panama and Mexico are producing flies at a high rate.
The Sterile Insect Technique is effective in battling screwworm flies because female screwworms mate only once in their lifetime and if they mate with a sterile male, females lay eggs that never hatch.
Hoskins says that a new sterile fly facility in Texas will help to increase the number of sterile flies available to better control NWS.
That was USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Dudley Hoskins.
