Screwworm border closure shifts beef production to Mexico
The year-long ban on Mexican cattle imports intended to stop screwworm pests has led to record US beef prices and the near closure of historic Texas feedlots. Meanwhile, Mexican producers are expanding their own processing infrastructure and increasing meat exports to the United States.
The United States beef industry is contracting as a year-long border closure to Mexico livestock drives domestic cattle supplies to a 75-year low. The ban, implemented a year ago to block the flesh-eating screwworm pest, formerly removed more than one million cattle annually that represented 4% to 5% of U.S. beef production. This supply shock is shifting processing profits from American feedlots to Mexican exporters who are now building their own infrastructure.
