Mexican cattle still not allowed to be imported into Texas
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Cattle imports into the U.S. from Mexico re-started at two ports of entry, neither of which were in the Rio Grande Valley.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture banned Mexican cattle imports in November 2024 after a parasite known as the screwworm was discovered on a cow near Mexico’s border with Guatemala, according to the Texas Tribune.
RELATED STORY: Mexican cattle banned from Texas due to screwworm threat
For Matamoros rancher Rigoberto Aguirre Serrata, his herd is his livelihood. He said American buyers give him better prices for his cattle, which means better prices at the meat counter for American consumers.
Serrata said the USDA’s decision to stop all Mexican cattle imports was abrupt. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller agreed.
“It was an overreaction, a knee-jerk reaction,” Miller said.
Imports were allowed to resume at ports of entry in Douglas, Arizona and Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Serrata said he would have to send his heard over 800 miles to cross them into the U.S., losing out on a profitable business with U.S. importers.
Serrata and other ranchers have been in talks with local and federal officials from the U.S. and Mexico to expand export opportunities. Serrata previously attended a meeting with the USDA in Corpus Christi to set the stage for a corral near the Los Indios Bridge to import Tamaulipas cattle into the Valley.
Those are plans that have been in talks for years, Serrata said, adding that they're waiting for approval from the Tamaulipas state government and Mexican federal officials.
An exact timeline for the project has yet to be set.
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