Mexico resumes limited cattle exports to US after screwworm pause, relieving ranchers
USDA said the pilot reopening allows up to 750 cattle a day under new inspection and traceability rules to limit screwworm risk.
- On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture resumed importing Mexican cattle through the Agua Prieta, Sonora, border crossing, allowing up to 750 head per day to enter Douglas, Ariz., after a year-long suspension.
- Trade was suspended mid-2025 because of the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that triggered emergency protocols in northern Mexico; USDA officials recently designated Sonora and Chihuahua as lowest-risk states for the pest.
- U.S. officials implemented strict safety measures for the reopening, including radio-frequency identification tags for traceability and specialized insecticide dipping vats, to ensure animals entering the country remain free of screwworm infections.
- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins stated the resumption aims to address high beef prices, which rose more than 10% in July as the U.S. cattle herd remains at its lowest level in 75 years.
- If initial imports proceed safely, the USDA plans to expand shipments to Santa Teresa and Columbus, New Mexico, while increasing capacity from 750 head to 1,300 per day in the following weeks.
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Mexican cattle imports restart in Arizona as screwworm cases decline
The U.S. livestock port in Douglas, Arizona, became the first along the Southwest border to reopen to Mexican cattle on Monday, but the threat of New World screwworm still remains elsewhere and that means restrictions are still in place.
Agua Prieta, Son., Sonora became the first entity on the northern border to reopen the export of cattle to the United States, in an act carried out from the quarantine of Agua Prieta, headed by Governor Alfonso Durazo Montaño and the secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Columba Jazmín López Gutiérrez, with the support of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
Sonora became the first entity on the northern border to reopen the export of livestock to the United States on Monday, August 24, in an act led, from Agua Prieta, by Governor Alfonso Durazo Montaño and Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Columba Jazmín López Gutiérrez, and backed by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
Washington Times
The New York LedgerMexico resumes limited cattle exports to U.S. after screwworm pause, relieving ranchers
Mexico resumed live cattle exports to the United States on Monday after they were halted for nearly two years by restrictions imposed by the Trump administration following a screwworm outbreak.
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