There’s no doubt that the initial finding of New World Screwworm in the U.S. was a shock to the cattle industry. Even with the additional confirmed cases in Texas and New Mexico, there is a sense of relief in one respect. Ben Hale, the owner of Western Livestock in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, said the industry is in a better position after the initial shock of the first confirmation.
“In my opinion, I’m just glad we got it over with. Now we can go on like we did with the Mad Cow deal. It got better after that, and we’re already really good, but hopefully we just – we got these different tools that cattle people are already watching their cattle, and it’s not a big calving season right now, so it’s not a big bunch of them. So, hopefully we just stay diligent, and I think we can get ahead of it.”
The cattle market seems to be doing well despite the news, and he said buyers are generally optimistic.
“Everybody’s attitude is really good. They were really tickled yesterday with the way that deal was, and it kind of popped up on those feeders, but we’re going to be lighter. It wasn’t very many years ago that June was always our big month, you know. We’d sell 10-15,000 a week, so it’s been a shift in numbers. We can see that. We’re seeing that everywhere, but the market’s extremely stout, and even these calves are cheaper, but they’re still a dollar higher now, extremely good, per head.”