El Paso, Texas (Border Report) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins will visit southern New Mexico on Thursday to announce the reopening of the Santa Teresa cattle crossing, a major entry point for livestock imported from Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it is implementing a phased federal plan to restore cross-border livestock trade under new protocols intended to prevent the spread of New World screwworm.
Rollins is scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Santa Teresa cattle crossing. The USDA has said livestock trade through Santa Teresa is expected to resume next week, but the agency has not announced a specific date.
New Mexico cattle industry hopes to ward off screwworm as border trade reopens
The crossing closed as federal authorities restricted livestock imports from Mexico in response to the northward spread of New World screwworm, a parasitic fly whose larvae infest open wounds and feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals…