'They're Betting Our Herd': Texas Ranchers Question USDA as Screwworm Returns

Source: US News & World Report/Reuters

June 8, 2026, at 6:02 a.m.


Cotulla, Texas, June 8 (Reuters) - Like many ranchers in South Texas, Susan Storey said nightmarish screwworm outbreaks were among her first childhood memories. ⁠Now 62, ⁠she still recalls seeing wriggling maggots as they burrowed into living livestock and ⁠smelling the burning carcasses of calves that were too far gone for her family to treat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week confirmed two infestations of New World screwworm in Texas — the ​state's first cases since the 1970s.

However, local residents and ranchers remain split over whether to trust the agency's response, with some saying it's too slow or not far-reaching enough. U.S. cattle ranchers have been bracing for a domestic screwworm case for over a year as the pest has advanced north ‌through Mexico, with experts predicting that a widespread outbreak could cost the ‌state $1.8 billion in economic damage and could be devastating for the state's wildlife.

For Storey and other ranchers who lived through the last outbreak, the news has further eroded their trust in the USDA and prompted them to search for their own solutions. “We're fighting for this so our grandchildren can ⁠keep what we have,” she said ⁠as her pickup truck bumped down a dirt road past grazing cattle, sprawling green pastures and migrating butterflies. “I don't want my herd threatened."

Screwworms are ​parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal. Once the eggs hatch, hundreds of larvae use their sharp mouths to eat through living flesh, eventually killing their host if left untreated. They mostly spread through the movement of infested animals and pose no threat to food safety and rarely affect humans, experts said. The last time screwworm was endemic in the United States, it took the cattle industry 30 years to recover, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2026-06-08/theyre-betting-our-herd-texas-ranchers-question-usda-as-screwworm-returns