On a sweltering August morning at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Governor Greg Abbott and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins stood shoulder to shoulder, flanked by agricultural leaders and scientists, to announce a bold new initiative: a $750 million factory to breed billions of sterile flies. The aim? To protect the American cattle industry from a flesh-eating parasite lurking just across the border in Mexico—the notorious New World screwworm.
The new Domestic Sterile Screwworm Production Facility, set to rise on Moore Air Base outside Edinburg, Texas, about 20 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, is nothing short of historic. According to the Office of the Texas Governor, the facility will produce an astonishing 300 million sterile flies each week. The hope is that by releasing these sterile males into the wild, the wild population of screwworm flies will dwindle, safeguarding not only Texas’s cattle but the broader U.S. food and agriculture sector, which supports over 2 million jobs and delivers an economic impact of $867 billion.
"We will combat the New World screwworm threat right here in Texas by building a new $750 million facility to breed hundreds of millions of sterile screwworm flies," Abbott declared, as reported by the Office of the Texas Governor. The urgency is real: officials fear that if the screwworm fly, whose maggots devour living flesh, crosses into Texas, the resulting economic losses could be catastrophic, potentially driving already record-high beef prices even higher.
Secretary Rollins echoed that sense of alarm, stating, "Farm security is national security. All Americans should be concerned. But it’s certainly Texas and our border and livestock producing states that are on the front lines of this every day." Her remarks, reported by the Associated Press, underscored the stakes for ranchers, consumers, and anyone with a stake in the nation’s food supply.
The threat isn’t just hypothetical. The U.S. has already closed its border to cattle, horse, and bison imports from Mexico three times in eight months, most recently in July, after an infestation was reported some 370 miles from the Texas border. The parasite is tenacious, capable of infesting wildlife, household pets, and, on rare occasions, even humans.
To mount a defense, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is deploying $100 million in new technology—fly traps, lures, and increased patrols by "tick riders" on horseback. Specially trained dogs will also join the effort, sniffing out the parasite at critical entry points. The USDA, alongside Customs and Border Protection, is intensifying surveillance at U.S. entry points, determined to keep the screwworm at bay.
This is not the first time the U.S. has faced down the screwworm. Decades ago, the pest was a scourge for American ranchers until the 1970s, when the U.S. largely eradicated it using the very same sterile fly technique now being revived. Back then, fly factories on American soil churned out sterile males, which were released to mate with wild females. Since screwworm females mate only once in their short lives, the result was a rapid decline in the pest population. After victory was declared, the U.S. closed its fly factories, relying instead on facilities in Panama and, more recently, Mexico.
But the landscape has shifted. The Panama factory can produce up to 117 million flies weekly, while a new Mexican facility adds another 100 million. Yet with the screwworm’s range creeping northward and the risk of border breaches ever-present, American officials now see the need to ramp up efforts on home turf. The Texas factory, with its capacity for 300 million flies a week, will be the largest of its kind, tripling U.S. production and, as Secretary Rollins said, making the country "prepared and not just reactive."
"It’s a tactical move that ensures we are prepared and not just reactive, which is today what we have really been working through," Rollins explained at the press conference, as reported by the Associated Press. The Trump administration, she added, wants to end U.S. reliance on fly breeding in Mexico and Panama, bringing this critical biosecurity capability back stateside.
The battle plan doesn’t stop at the factory gates. In June, Governor Abbott created the Texas New World Screwworm Response Team, pulling together the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Animal Health Commission. Their mission: coordinate rapid response, surveillance, and communication to keep the pest from gaining a foothold. The USDA, for its part, is also converting an existing fruit fly breeding facility to produce sterile screwworm flies and building a site for gathering and aerially releasing imported flies from Panama.
International cooperation remains crucial. On August 15, Mexican Agriculture and Rural Development Secretary Julio Berdegué Sacristán and Secretary Rollins signed a screwworm control action plan. The agreement, as reported by the Associated Press, includes monitoring with fly-attracting traps and requiring that livestock in Mexico can only be moved through government-certified corrals. On social media, Berdegué stated, "We will continue with conversations that lead to actions that will permit the reopening of livestock exports." For now, though, the U.S. border remains closed to imports of cattle, horses, and bison from Mexico until the pest is pushed back south toward Panama, where containment efforts had held it in check until late last year.
Why invest so heavily in a fly factory? The answer is simple: prevention is far cheaper than cure. American officials warn that if the screwworm fly were to establish itself in Texas, the cost could run into the billions—not just in lost cattle but in higher beef prices at the grocery store and ripple effects throughout the economy. According to the Associated Press, the parasite’s maggots can also infest wildlife and pets, making its spread a public health concern as well as an economic one.
The project has garnered broad support from state and federal officials, agricultural leaders, and scientists. Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller and Texas A&M Chancellor Glenn Hegar joined Abbott and Rollins for the announcement, signaling a united front against the threat. The facility is expected to be operational within a year, with the first waves of sterile flies taking to the skies soon after. The hope is that, much like in the 1970s, a combination of science, coordination, and vigilance will keep the screwworm at bay.
As the sun set on Austin that day, the message was clear: Texas—and the U.S.—are taking no chances. With the largest sterile fly factory in history soon to open its doors, the state is betting big that innovation and determination will keep its cattle safe and its economy strong.