# Valley livestock buyers grow cautious amid screwworm concerns

> Livestock auctioneers in South Texas say buyers who invest in cattle shipped north are becoming cautious because of the screwworm situation. Starr County remains under a Texas Animal Health Commission quarantine, though no active cases are reported there. A USDA sterile fly production facility in Edinburg, costing nearly $800 million, is under construction and expected to finish late next year.

- Date: 2026-11-02 · published 2026-11-02T12:12:49.195Z
- Category: disease · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/75425-valley-livestock-buyers-grow-cautious-amid-screwworm-concerns
- Commodities: [Feeder Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/FCATTLE.md)

## Why it matters

Buyer hesitancy at sale barns can soften bids and reduce the value of cattle moving out of the Rio Grande Valley. The sterile fly facility is a longer-term step to contain the pest, so near-term effects on cattle prices are mostly through sentiment and movement restrictions.

## Read by commodity

- FCATTLE: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FCATTLE | 2022-05-16 | [Foot and mouth disease risks concern WA Livestock Exporters Association \| WA](https://feedsoft.ai/events/41342-foot-and-mouth-disease-risks-concern-wa-livestock-exporters-association-wa.md) | -2.8% | +8.5% |
| FCATTLE | 2024-05-01 | [LIVESTOCK-Bird-flu testing of US ground beef sinks CME cattle futures \| MarketScreener](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5411-livestock-bird-flu-testing-of-us-ground-beef-sinks-cme-cattle-futures.md) | -1.0% | +6.4% |
| FCATTLE | 2025-10-23 | [Mexican ag minister to discuss with US counterpart opening border to cattle amid screwworm outbreak \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/22362-mexican-ag-minister-to-discuss-with-us-counterpart-opening-border-to-cattle.md) | -4.7% | -6.4% |
| FCATTLE | 2025-08-08 | [U.S. livestock: Cattle futures fall hard, hogs mixed - Grainews](https://feedsoft.ai/events/12276-u-s-livestock-cattle-futures-fall-hard-hogs-mixed-grainews.md) | -2.4% | +3.2% |
| FCATTLE | 2018-01-01 | [Canada Blocks Texas Cattle as Flesh-Eating Screwworm Returns to the US After 60 Years](https://feedsoft.ai/events/66963-canada-blocks-texas-cattle-as-flesh-eating-screwworm-returns-to-the-us-after-60.md) | +0.3% | +0.8% |

## Sources

- krgv.com: https://www.krgv.com/videos/valley-livestock-buyers-grow-cautious-amid-screwworm-concerns/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.