USDA sets Aug. 24 reopening of Douglas port to Mexican cattle; New Mexico crossings to follow

The last time USDA scheduled the port at Douglas, Arizona, to take Mexican cattle again, the plan held for two days. Imports were set to resume there on a Monday in July 2025; late that Wednesday, July 9, USDA closed southern ports to livestock trade after New World screwworm turned up in Ixhuatlán de Madero, Veracruz, about 370 miles south of the border^[8]. On Friday, July 24, USDA set a second try: Douglas reopens to cattle on August 24, with the Santa Teresa and Columbus ports in New Mexico to follow, and every animal will be inspected for screwworm before it enters^[1].

The decision matters most to stocker operators and feedyards in the Southern Plains, which relied on more than 1 million head of Mexican feeder cattle a year before the suspension^{[7, 10]}. It also lands while the pest is already inside the United States, with 42 confirmed cases as of July 24, all but one in Texas^[2].

The details

USDA describes the plan as “a coordinated, phased reopening of southern cattle ports, contingent on Mexico’s adherence to the Joint Action Plan”^[1]. The release sets out four steps and conditions:

• Douglas first. On August 24, the Douglas port, which borders Sonora, reopens to livestock trade. USDA will at the same time begin the operational steps for later openings at Santa Teresa and Columbus^[1].
• Two source states. USDA calls Sonora and Chihuahua the lowest-risk Mexican states for screwworm, citing their inspection programs and their distance from southern Mexico, where most cases are concentrated. The closest active case to Douglas was about 325 miles away, detected July 22^[1].
• Full inspection. Every animal entering through these ports will undergo a full USDA inspection for signs of screwworm^[1].
• Pause clause. The timeline “may be adjusted based on Mexico’s progress in meeting Action Plan milestones,” and openings may be paused if post-opening audits or other information show increased risk in Sonora or Chihuahua^[1].

After evaluating Douglas, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will consider opening the two New Mexico ports to live cattle, bison and horses^[1]. No date has been given for either^[7].

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the closure “for the last year has been a tough but necessary action to control the spread of NWS in Mexico and protect the American livestock industry,” and that “it is now safe to reopen the Douglas, Arizona, port in 30 days to resume the hundreds year old movement of cattle”^[1].

On the Mexican side, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on X that trade would resume in August at Agua Prieta, Sonora, the crossing opposite Douglas, followed by two points in Chihuahua^{[6, 7]}. “I have instructed that we accelerate our work and collaboration with the United States even further to have everything ready as soon as possible to restart the movement of cattle,” she said^[6].

How the risk picture has moved since April

The distances in Friday’s release are shorter than the ones Rollins used three months ago. At a sterile fly facility groundbreaking at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas, on April 17, she said screwworm had been “roughly around 800 miles from the Douglas, Arizona, port and the two ports in New Mexico”^[9]. The nearest case to Douglas is now about 325 miles out^[1]. At the same event she said the pest was “only around 200 miles from this border, so there will not be a port opening in Texas until that significantly pushes back”^[9]. No U.S. cases had been found at that point^[9]. The pest crossed into the United States in early June^[5].

In the field: feedyards, stocker operators and cow-calf herds

Southern Plains feedyards. The shortfall has been sharpest here. In February, Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA) president Ben Weinheimer said there were almost no Mexican feeder cattle left in Southern Great Plains feedlots, and warned of “one billion less pounds of beef just in our three-state region of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico” in 2026 if conditions held^[10]. TCFA chairman Laphe LaRoe called Friday’s decision “great news”^[3]. The national herd stood at 86.2 million head on January 1, the lowest level in decades, and cattle on feed were down 3% from a year earlier^[7]. USDA’s July 1 count, released Friday, put cattle and calves at 94.2 million head, up from 94 million a year earlier^[6].

Packers. “Importing cattle from Mexico allows beef packers to better meet consumer demand given the tight supply of U.S. cattle,” said Julie Anna Potts, president and CEO of the Meat Institute^[4].

Border-state cattle operations. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall said the decision “will help normalize business for cattle operations throughout the border states and Southern Plains”^[3]. The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association backed the phased approach but put a condition on its support: President Stephen Diebel said the group “will not hesitate to urge the immediate closure of these ports should science indicate the risk has changed”^[3].

Cow-calf producers worried about the herd. The sharpest objection came from R-CALF USA, which wants the border kept shut. CEO Bill Bullard called the plan “premature”^[5]. His statement makes five points:

1. Mexico has detected over 34,000 cases since the outbreak began, including two in Chihuahua, one of the two states USDA rates lowest risk^[5].
2. Mexico detected 62 new cases within about 100 miles of the U.S. border in July^[5].
3. Sterile fly production remains far below the up to 500 million flies a week that USDA said would push the pest back to the Darién Gap containment zone^[5].
4. Reports of illegal cattle trafficking from Central America into and within Mexico suggest some animals bypass Mexico’s biosecurity measures^[5].
5. Reopening would likely encourage more south-to-north movement of cattle inside Mexico, which is known to carry the pest north^[5].

“Until Mexico can demonstrate it has fully eradicated the pest from within its borders,” Bullard said, USDA should keep all of its defenses in place, “including keeping the border closed”^[5].

The inspection regime that supporters point to was described by Weinheimer in February: multiple veterinary inspections in Mexico, ivermectin treatment before cattle reach the border, and a final APHIS check at the port where “every single animal is individually identified and put in a squeeze chute”^[10]. USDA’s release does not list those steps, and it does not say how many head a day Douglas can handle^[1].

On the Hill

The reopening is an administrative decision by USDA and needs no vote. The pressure on it has come mostly from border states. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a state official, thanked Rollins for answering his call to reopen but criticized the department’s response: “The USDA has spent more than a year reacting instead of getting ahead of the problem”^[2]. “Resuming cattle importation from Mexico is the right move for ranchers and American consumers,” Miller said^[2]. Before the April groundbreaking, some elected officials and feeder cattle operations had urged USDA to reopen an Arizona crossing such as Douglas^[9]. Texas Sen. John Cornyn spoke at that event alongside Rollins^[9].

On the farm bill, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman has said he aims to hold a committee markup before the August recess^[6]. Nothing in the reporting so far ties the border decision to that bill.

When does the Douglas port reopen, and what comes after?

August 24 is the date for Douglas^[1]. The order of later steps is set out in the release, but none has a date:

• Evaluation of Douglas. APHIS will weigh “the success of the initial reopening and potential impacts or risk assessment changes” before moving on^[1].
• Santa Teresa and Columbus. These reopen to cattle, bison and horses only after that evaluation, restoring a route for Chihuahua cattle^{[1, 7]}. Sheinbaum said five screwworm cases were recently reported in Chihuahua^[7].
• Texas ports. Rollins said in April there would be none until the pest is pushed back^[9]. Since then, screwworm has been confirmed in Texas and southeastern New Mexico^[7].

The pause clause is the open question. USDA can halt the trade if post-opening audits or other information show rising risk in Sonora or Chihuahua^[1]. It used that kind of authority in July 2025, when Rollins said the department “must see additional progress combatting NWS in Veracruz and other nearby Mexican states” before reopening^[8].