WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest up to US$750 million to construct a new production facility in Texas designed to breed sterile flies as a weapon against the New World screwworm, a parasitic pest that threatens livestock by literally eating animals alive.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the plan this week, warning that the insect's advance from Mexico toward the U.S. border has raised serious concerns about a potential outbreak.

The project reflects growing alarm within the cattle industry, which fears that the return of screwworm could devastate herds and push already record-high beef prices even higher by tightening supplies.

"It could truly crush the cattle industry," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said during a joint press conference with Rollins. Texas, the nation's largest cattle-producing state, has not seen screwworm infestations in decades, thanks to a landmark eradication program in the 20th century that relied on aerial releases of sterile flies.

The new plant, planned for Edinburg, Texas, will operate alongside a previously announced dispersal center at Moore Air Base. Once completed, it will be capable of producing 300 million sterile screwworm flies each week, Rollins said. When released, the sterile flies overwhelm wild populations by disrupting reproduction, eventually collapsing infestations. While Rollins did not give an opening date, she has previously noted that such a facility typically requires two to three years to build.

To bridge the gap until the Texas facility comes online, the USDA will allocate another $100 million to develop new screwworm-fighting technologies and to expand mounted patrols along the southern border, where wildlife could carry the pest into U.S. territory. The agency has already suspended imports of Mexican cattle as of July, further tightening domestic supplies that are already at historically low levels. "Those ports don't open until we begin to push the screwworm back," Rollins emphasized.

The U.S. is also working with regional partners. A sterile fly production plant in Mexico is scheduled to open next year, while an existing facility in Panama breeds about 100 million sterile flies per week. According to USDA estimates, as many as 500 million sterile flies must be released each week to drive the screwworm southward and prevent it from re-establishing itself in North America.

"This is not just a Texas problem—it's a national concern," Rollins said. "All Americans should be concerned."