{"id":1120,"date":"2026-06-10T10:47:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T10:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1120"},"modified":"2026-06-10T10:47:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T10:47:31","slug":"a-maga-warrior-texas-ag-chief-is-publicly-blasting-the-usda-over-a-flesh-eating-pest-threatening-americas-beef-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1120","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018MAGA Warrior\u2019 Texas ag chief is publicly blasting the USDA over a flesh-eating pest threatening America\u2019s beef supply"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The New World screwworm fly\u2014a parasitic fly that lays its eggs in the open wounds of not only livestock like cattle, but also pets and humans in some cases\u2014was discovered in Texas last week for the first time since 1966. Then on Monday, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also reported the first case of the fly in neighboring New Mexico.<\/p>\n

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Once hatched, screwworm larvae feed on the living flesh of their host, potentially leading to infection, foul odors, and death, sometimes within a week if not treated properly. Before the screwworm fly was first eradicated in the 1960s, it led to between $10 and $20 million in losses for livestock producers per year, according to USDA . As the pest threatens to return in full force to the U.S., the USDA has put millions toward reviving a tried and true approach to containing the pest\u2014producing sterile, male screwworm flies, which are then released into affected areas to mate with females that produce infertile eggs. Because female flies only mate once in their life, this approach helps to stem its population growth. This strategy was key to eradicating the pest for the first time in the 1960s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Yet, Texas agricultural commissioner and Trump loyalist Sid Miller has taken aim at the USDA\u2019s approach. Miller, who lost a reelection bid in March despite an endorsement from President Donald Trump, tore into the department in a statement last week, saying \u201cthe USDA moved too slowly\u201d and is relying on the \u201cpartial solution\u201d of sterile insect release, instead of using all the tools at its disposal, which includes a strategy that employs bait and targeted pesticides to kill the pests.<\/p>\n

Miller criticized the sterile insect approach as an ineffective,\u201c100-year-old technology.\u201d He said the sterile flies being released are both male and female and are mating with each other instead of with wild flies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sterile fly just mates with the other sterile females, so it doesn\u2019t work,\u201d he said in a Monday interview with News Nation<\/em>, before blaming the affordability crisis at the supermarket on the flies and not as one of the results of the Iran war or Trump\u2019s tariffs on meat-exporting countries like Brazil\u00a0 \u201cYou can look for higher beef prices because of the USDA,\u201d he added later in the interview.<\/p>\n

While the sterile insect release method relies primarily on sterile males reproducing with wild females, sterile male and female flies are often released at once for practical reasons. Some studies on the sterile insect technique as a means of managing fruit flies have shown a negligible difference when males and females are released together compared to males alone.<\/p>\n

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Flawed by design<\/h2>\n

Because the USDA has set up a quarantine zone to contain the spread of the screwworm, Miller also argues farmers are less likely to report the pest if they find it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge all Texas producers to report suspected New World screwworm cases to their veterinarian, USDA, TAHC, or the Texas Department of Agriculture. But farmers and ranchers have told me current USDA and TAHC quarantine policies discourage reporting. Those policies should be revised,\u201d he said in a statement to Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Asked about Miller\u2019s comments during a Monday press conference, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and USDA chief Brooke Rollins called Miller\u2019s comment a \u201cdangerous suggestion,\u201d adding that it was \u201ca very unserious comment from a perhaps unserious [agriculture] commissioner with just a few months left.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Miller shot back at Rollins\u2019 remark in a statement to Fortune.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cSecretary Rollins\u2019 name-calling is disappointing. This threat is too serious for petty politics. My team and I will stay focused on protecting Texas agriculture, not trading insults. We led the fight against New World screwworm from the start, and we\u2019ll keep leading it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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The USDA did not immediately respond to Fortune<\/em>\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s rare critique sets up a clash between the Trump administration and a vocal, Trump-backed politician in a Republican-controlled state, as well as growing fissures within the MAGA movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miller is, by seemingly all accounts, a MAGA stalwart. He has previously criticized members of the Republican party in the Texas legislature as \u201cRINOs\u201d (Republican in Name Only) for allegedly undermining party priorities and earned President Trump\u2019s endorsement earlier this year as he sought reelection. He later went on to lose his reelection bid to a candidate backed by the Texas governor, Greg Abbot.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPresident Trump described me as a MAGA Warrior who has stood with him from the very beginning,\u201d wrote Miller on the endorsements page of his website.<\/p>\n

Real economic losses<\/h2>\n

In Texas, this tension between dedicated MAGA supporters and the Trump administration comes with high stakes thanks to the threat of a broader screwworm infestation. Although the screwworm fly doesn\u2019t pose a threat to food safety, according to the USDA, it does threaten ranchers and producers in Texas, which alone account for about 14% of U.S. cattle production.<\/p>\n

Texas A&M estimates that if the fly manages to reestablish itself in the U.S., this would lead to losses of $2.1 billion in the cattle industry and $9 billion to the hunting and wildlife industry just in Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miller has said he has repeatedly suggested to Rollins that the USDA should employ the \u201cScrewworm Adult Suppression System,\u201d which uses bait and targeted pesticides to kill screwworms. Yet, the USDA prefers the release of sterile specimens partly because it \u201cis safe, environmentally friendly, and offers a sustainable, non-toxic alternative to chemical pesticides,\u201d according to a .\u00a0It is also considering other methods to control the spread of screwworm, including potentially releasing a genetically engineered, male-only strain of the fly into the environment. <\/p>\n

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For now, the USDA is doubling down on the sterile insect technique. Last year, it put $21 million into converting a fruit fly facility in Tampico, Mexico to produce more of these sterile flies. It has also put $750 million into a similar factory in southern Texas and opened a new center for dispersing these flies in the same region earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Yet, these efforts aren\u2019t enough for Texas agricultural commissioner and Trump loyalist Sid Miller, who urged the USDA to act faster as the screwworm threat spreads in his state and beyond.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve seen detections in four counties and two states. This should set off alarm bells across the country,\u201d he wrote in a statement. \u201cEvery day we delay gives this pest another opportunity to spread.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The flesh-eating New World screwworm fly was found in Texas last week for the first time since 1966.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usda"],"yoast_head":"\nA \u2018MAGA Warrior\u2019 Texas ag chief is publicly blasting the USDA over a flesh-eating pest threatening America\u2019s beef supply - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=1120\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A \u2018MAGA Warrior\u2019 Texas ag chief is publicly blasting the USDA over a flesh-eating pest threatening America\u2019s beef supply - 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