With the reopening of the border crossing for Mexican cattle, doubts arise about price drops
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
The United States plans to reopen a border crossing in Arizona on Monday for the entry of cattle from Mexico in an attempt to reduce beef prices, although economists doubt the measure will significantly impact grocery store shoppers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has indicated that concerns over the spread of the New World screw-worm have diminished enough to allow cattle movement from Mexico at a crossing in Douglas, Arizona, about 230 miles southeast of Phoenix. Over time, it hopes to reopen other crossings in New Mexico and Texas. Beef prices are clearly a concern for President Donald Trump, who announced on Friday that he would allow the duty-free entry of up to 331,000 tons of imported ground beef to be sold below market prices for the next 90 days. In February, the White House stated that banning cattle imports from Mexico over a year ago was 'essential' to contain the screw-worm, but it has exacerbated the shortage of cattle for slaughter in the U.S. 'The government obviously has many incentives to say they are doing something about high meat prices in particular,' said Derrell Peel, an agribusiness professor at Oklahoma State University. 'Beef has been highlighted because it is an expensive product and because it has a lot of visibility.' The Trump administration closed the border to cattle imports in May 2025 as part of its response to the screw-worm, a parasite with larvae that devour flesh and can infest and even kill cattle or other animals. This measure came when the U.S. was already struggling to meet beef demand due to a cattle herd that has been shrinking for five years and is now the smallest in decades. Although the Department of Agriculture plans a gradual reopening of the border, it will take months before Mexican imports return to traditional levels, Peel explained. Mexico has traditionally supplied 1.1 million head, or about 3% of the U.S. cattle supply. 'I do not expect to see any measurable impact on cattle or beef prices anytime soon,' Peel added. The smallest herd in decades in the U.S. has driven prices up. The Department of Agriculture reported that as of January 1, the cattle herd had fallen to 86.2 million head, the lowest figure in 75 years. Beef prices have skyrocketed over the past five years, rising significantly faster than overall food prices, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average price of a pound of ground beef increased nearly 57% from July 2021 to July 2026, from $4.39 to $6.89 — reaching a peak of $6.90 in May — with a 10% increase from the previous year. Food prices have risen about 25% in total over those five years, according to the bureau's figures. The price of a pound of raw steak rose 35% in the past five years, reaching a record $13.06 per pound in July, also 10% higher than a year earlier. However, Glynn Tonsor, an agricultural economics professor at Kansas State University, explained that the effect on beef prices from the lower cattle supply has been mitigated because the U.S. beef industry is more efficient and has been able to extract more meat from each animal than in previous years. The U.S. says the reopening begins at a safe point. Government and industry officials in the U.S. consider the New World screw-worm fly a major threat to the country's $113 billion livestock industry. It was an annual scourge during warm weather for U.S. ranchers from at least the 1930s to the 1960s until the U.S. largely eradicated it. The fly had been contained for years near the Panama Canal but returned to southern Mexico in late 2024 and advanced into the U.S., with the first case in Texas since 1966 reported on June 3. Since then, more than 40 cases have been confirmed in South Texas and southeastern New Mexico, with infestations in cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs. In her July announcement regarding plans for a gradual reopening of the border, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins noted that it was possible to start with a crossing in Arizona because the northern states of Sonora and Chihuahua had stronger animal health programs than other parts of Mexico. She also stated that each animal would be inspected and declared free of the parasite before crossing the border. The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, John Boozman, pointed out that the Department of Agriculture is taking a 'careful, science-based' approach to reopening the border and imposing strong animal health protocols. 'This is an important step for U.S. cattle producers, especially for our feeders in the border states,' Boozman, a Republican from Arkansas, said in a statement. 'Restoring this trade is essential to strengthen our cattle supply and support a healthy and competitive beef industry.' Drought and low prices led to the smallest herd in 75 years. Drought in the cattle-producing regions of the U.S. is a major reason why the national herd is so small, said David Anderson, an agricultural economics professor at Texas A&M University. If grass does not grow, cattle have nothing to graze on, forcing ranchers to sell them. Low cattle prices over the past two decades are also a factor. 'What we have today is, in a way, the culmination of about 18, 19, 20 years of very low cattle prices,' Anderson explained. 'That forces us to reduce our herds. Drought forces us to reduce them even further.' The cattle shortage has also left beef processing plants operating below capacity. Tyson Foods, one of the largest meat processors in the country, announced in November that it was reorganizing its beef operations and closing a plant in Lexington, Nebraska, about 220 miles southwest of Omaha. Earlier this month, it announced plans to close a plant in Utah, just outside Salt Lake City, and another in Illinois, about 150 miles southeast of Chicago. In June, another major processor in the U.S., JBS USA, announced plans to close beef plants in Memphis and just outside Philadelphia, although it later said it would maintain some operations at the Pennsylvania plant to preserve 400 jobs there. Rebuilding the U.S. cattle herd — and ultimately lowering prices — will likely take years, largely because a cow typically has only one calf a year, Peel assured. Additionally, raising a heifer keeps it out of the food supply, further tightening it while the herd is rebuilt. Peel stated that prices will remain high for some time and, for elected officials, 'There is nothing that can be done.' This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool. A Telemundo Digital editor reviewed the translation.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
