Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays talked with Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association who recently returned from Washington, D.C. where he discussed many topics with legislators, one of which was the New World Screwworm’s northward progress. Hear more about his work on Capitol Hill in yesterday’s BeefBuzz.
“What we learned while we were there is the fly continues a very slow trek north,” Kelsey cautioned. “It is further north today than it was yesterday. We’ve got to stop it!”
In order to do that, Kelsey and his team requested funding from the federal government for more fly breeding facilities. Mexico lost one of its facilities, which leaves only one in Panama. The fly-breeding facilities produce sterile male flies to be released into existing screwworm populations so that they may be bred into extinction. It has proven to be the single best option for eradicating the pests. The fly larvae infest living tissue in warm-blooded animals and cause infections.
The requested funding would be used to help Mexico reopen its fly breeding facility and perhaps to build a new facility in South Texas. Click here to read and listen to a previous conversation between Hays and Kelsey regarding the New World Screwworm.
Kelsey reported that the delegation was very receptive to the request for funding. “Mr. [Kevin] Hern, who is our Tulsa Congressman who sits on Ways and Means, is headed to Panama in a couple of weeks for the canal issue. He asked for talking points so he can support the effort while he is there. That is just an example of him being supportive and understanding of the importance of this pest. We certainly don’t want to see it cross the Rio Grande into Texas nor the Red River into Oklahoma. We need to push back.”
The US stopped the flow of cattle from Mexico when the presence of the New World Screwworm was announced in southern Mexico last fall, and only in recent days has the border with new enhanced biosecurity been reopened. While the border is open to move cattle into the U.S. from Mexico, the movement is slow. Only four of the five ports are open, and each of them is self-funded. “They are based on fees,” Kelsey explained. “When cattle come across, they pay a fee; that funds the inspectors at those borders. This is not an appropriated expense.”
He said that the hiring freeze impacted personnel at the border and that Mexico’s cattle herd isn’t as robust as it would normally be due to severe droughts in the country.
“We are going to see fewer numbers of cattle come across, but that should be up and running pretty quick,” Kelsey said.
The topic of tariffs was brought up in the meetings, and Kelsey is not a fan. He pointed out that nearly every economist believes that tariffs are bad for consumers and for trade, among other things. However, he noted that President Trump has a unique perspective regarding tariffs as revenue, but while in D.C., Kelsey learned about another unique concept.
He explained, “He’s using tariffs to bring people to the negotiating table, and so far, it has worked.”
He said that the reasons for President Trump’s on-again and off-again tariff declarations were because the affected country was ready to come to the table and talk.
“It causes havoc in the markets to do that because it is a roller coaster. The market just does not like that type of volatility, but long-term, it could be very, very positive,” Kelsey commented. “We have to give President Trump an opportunity to work the system – he’s a negotiator. We’ve already seen a couple of those deals come through for the positive for America, so it is a good perspective that we were able to learn from that. Hopefully, he will be successful. We want to support him in that sense so that we can keep beef trade going.”
As Kelsey stated, trade is important to elevate the value of the whole carcass, so OCA intends to work with President Trump to provide good, free, and fair trade. He said, “That seems to be what he wants to do with these tariffs, so we are going to be patient and work through that and be supportive.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show, and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
