Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller praised a limited reopening of the U.S. border to cattle imports from Mexico, while warning that the federal response to the New World screwworm has not gone far enough to protect the nation's livestock industry.
A new infestation in a Sutton County goat, confirmed July 21, pushed the United States tally of New World screwworm to 42 cases — up from the 41 reported last week, when the parasite reached Starr County on the Rio Grande for the first time — but the more telling number this week is how few of those cases are still live.
The Texas Department of Agriculture and the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority have awarded nearly $22.5 million to 80 agricultural first handlers across 45 Texas counties through the AgLink Continuity Grant Program, an effort aimed at shoring up critical agricultural infrastructure damaged by natural disasters.
The Texas Department of Agriculture is urging ranchers, hay producers and landowners across the state to begin watching their pastures for pasture mealybug, an invasive insect that Texas A&M AgriLife Extension has now confirmed in 70 Texas counties.
New World screwworm has been confirmed in Starr County for the first time, carrying the outbreak into a Rio Grande border county and pushing the U.S. case count to 41.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller declared an Agricultural Emergency on July 16 in response to catastrophic flooding across Central and South Texas, activating Texas Department of Agriculture relief resources for farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses recovering from widespread flood damage.
Confirmed New World screwworm infestations in the United States have risen to 39, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's confirmed-detections dashboard, which the agency updates daily at 6 p.m. Eastern.
Six Texas universities are among the recipients of a $105 million federal research push against the New World screwworm, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed, as the domestic case count held at 35 for a fifth consecutive day with no new detection reported since a July 10 goat in Crockett County.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller declared an Agricultural Emergency on July 10 in response to the Getaway Pens Fire in Dickens County, activating Texas Department of Agriculture disaster relief resources as firefighters continue battling the wildfire east of Lubbock, according to an agency news release.
The number of confirmed New World screwworm infestations in the United States has climbed to 35, with 34 in Texas and one in New Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's confirmed-detections dashboard.