$750 million facility to protect Texas cattle, wildlife from screwworm threat

(The Center Square) – Responding to calls by state lawmakers and the agricultural industry for immediate action to be taken to protect cattle and wildlife from a parasitic fly, the Trump administration is investing $750 million to build the first U.S.-based Sterile Screwworm Production Facility.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is building it at Moore Air Force Base in Edinburg, Texas. Built with the Army Corps of Engineers, it will produce up to 300 million sterile flies per week to eradicate the NWS. It will be the only sterile fly facility in the U.S. in a key location at the U.S.-Mexico border.

A deadly parasitic fly, the NWS is believed to be 370 miles south, flying north through Mexico from Central America. It has the potential to wipe out Texas cattle in a state that produces th