Courtesy of USDA/APHIS
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers, held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new domestic sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas last week.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Lieutenant General William H. Butch Graham, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commanding General led the ground breaking as part of the USDA’s strategy to combat New World Screwworm from entering the U.S.
Secretary Rollins said, “Breaking ground on this facility marks a major investment in safeguarding America’s livestock and the producers who feed this nation. This puts NWS sterile fly production in American hands, so we do not have to rely on other countries for the best offensive measure to push screwworm away from our borders. The New World Screwworm threatens the health of our herds, the stability of rural economies, and the resilience of our supply chain. President Trump and his entire cabinet is committed to leveraging every resource necessary to contain this pest, protect American agriculture, and ensure the long-term security of our food supply chain.”
The facility has a targeted initial operational capability of November 2027 to produce 100 million sterile flies per week, with additional construction to scale to full production of 300 million sterile flies per week and “USDA and USACE will oversee installation, and commissioning of specialized systems that will make this facility operable on time, delivering the critical sterile flies we need to continue to defeat this pest.”
US Army Corps of Engineers is providing engineering, design, construction management and contract oversight for the project.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.