72.7K
DOHearts are breaking in the South Plains as the iconic Lubbock Feeders announces they will be shutting down operations…
Manager and CEO Kyle Williams states that it is predominantly the impacts of the border shut down due to the New World screwworm that has led to this decision.
That in combination with low Cattle inventory numbers and high prices of cattle have left the partners of Lubbock Feeders to come to this difficult decision.
The New World screwworm is a fly that in its larval state will feast on live tissue, no matter what animal that includes livestock, wildlife, pets, and in rare cases, even humans .
The @usdagov shut down the live import of animals coming into the United States back in November 2024. In February and May 2025 there were brief opening periods, however, as the New World screwworm positive cases were moving northward through Mexico from Panama, the USDA decided to shut down the border. It has not been open since May of last year.
While no positive cases of the New World screwworm have been detected in the United States, it is obviously already having an economical impact on our beef systems here in the US. The lack of importing live animals is contributing to the high prices of cattle.
The Lubbock Feeders feed yard has been around since 1955 and has fed over 5 million head of cattle. This iconic feed yard even had its own phrase to local residents who could smell the feed yard on certain days of the year, it “smells like money.”
Even appearing in some music videos, the feed yard has been a long standing icon not just for the community but for the economy as well.
#lubbock #feedyard #usda #agriculture #cattle
@double_e_ranch_
