New Mexico Agriculture Secretary/Director Jeff Witte talks with KC Counts about the months-long embargo on beef imports due to New World screwworm and what it means for the state's economy.
KC Counts:
Secretary Witte, thank you for being with us. Why don't you start by telling us how the moratorium on beef imports into New Mexico has impacted our state?
Jeff Witte:
Well, you know, New Mexico is home to the two ports of entry for livestock, Columbus and at Santa Teresa. Santa Teresa is by far the largest cattle crossing in the United States for livestock. So the economic impact has been quite extensive. Those cattle, that come in from Mexico typically go to many other states, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, you know, as well as some to New Mexico. But just the fact that it's not operating is, you know, will cause an economic impact, not only in New Mexico, but across the United States.
KC Counts:
Can you put that in numbers at all?
Jeff Witte:
Well, we were crossing probably over around 2 million head of capital at Santa Teresa. And so when you look at livestock numbers in the US, we're down quite a bit because of the drought and the industry status over the last couple of years. It's really caused the livestock numbers to drop. So you're talking... several probably hundred millions of dollars in economic impact not just to the United States livestock industry, but feedlot operations, all the way up to the meat case from, I think we typically, one figure I saw was about 17% of the cattle we have in the United States on feed come from Mexico. So that's a pretty significant number.
KC Counts:
And we are seeing that when we go to the grocery store to buy beef, right?
Jeff Witte:
You're going to feel it at the grocery store a bit, yes. And it's certainly, New World screwworm is one cause of that, but also drought and just this cattle cycle in general. Numbers have been down for the last several years. And so we've had that pressure for the last several years. New World screwworm just adds to it a bit.
KC Counts:
What discussions are going on about how to tackle this? I spoke with State Public Health Veterinarian Dr.ErinPhipps recently, who said that in the 50s and 60s there was this program to breed these sterile flies and it actually worked to push the screwworm out of the United States and further south down into Central America. Any discussions about reigniting that program or how we're going to tackle this issue?
Jeff Witte:
Yeah, absolutely. So, USDA has already announced and it's a good thing we're in full support. They're going to resurrect and rebuild afacility in Texas. And Texas, in my opinion, is the right place because they're the closest to where the screwworm is right now in Mexico. And so, we're needing to deploy hundreds of millions of flies a week into Mexico to basically push it back and try to keep it away from the border. So, USDA is on that. They've also have invested in a facility in Mexico to basically produce those sterile flies on the front lines. So that's another good thing. In New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and California, the border states, our teams and the Livestock Board in New Mexico are working close with USDA to develop an active surveillance program just to make sure the fly hasn't worked its way to this part of the world yet. And so far, it's quite a ways away, so we're not concerned at this point in time. But it's something we're watching closely.
KC Counts:
What else do you think is important for people to understand about what's going on and all the nuances that maybe we wouldn't know otherwise?
Jeff Witte:
Yeah, so it's really important that people realize that this is not just a livestock issue. I'm glad you talked to the public health veterinarian. We've already had a case in the U.S. of a traveler who was in El Salvador. So it can happen to humans. It can happen to pets. We're already receiving samples of suspects from veterinarians, and everything has been cleared; everything is negative. But I'm glad people are watching, and the veterinarians are watching, and the people that own the pets are paying attention to this, because we're really concerned that it can come across in pets. Another thing is, we're in the hunting season and we really want to make sure that hunters are paying attention and they're aware, you know, if you've got an animal and you see some of these, what I would just call maggots, on the deer, let's take a sample, get it to your veterinarian, get it to your county extension office, and let's get it tested to make sure you're not being impacted by that.
KC Counts:
And so that's what you're looking for, right, is the actual maggot that would be in kind of a wound on a living animal?
Jeff Witte:
Exactly. The unique thing about New World screwworm is it goes after live flesh. Most fly larvae, maggots, so to speak, are going after dead flesh. The New World screwworm is quite different. It will go after live animal flesh. And that's the big difference in it. And that's why it's so dangerous.
KC Counts:
All right. Director, Secretary of Agriculture, Jeff Witte, thank you for sharing this important information with us. We appreciate your time.
Jeff Witte:
You bet. Anytime, KC. Thank you.
