U.S. cattle industry braces for impact as Mexican imports loom

The owner of one of the largest sale barns in the country says once the U.S. decides to resume live cattle imports from Mexico, the market will have a strong reaction.

Jackie Moore operates Joplin Regional Stockyards in Missouri. “Probably the thought of it happening and when it happens, it’s probably going to break the market,” he says.

He tells Brownfield he doesn’t expect a downturn in prices to last very long. “And they’re going to cross those cattle, and that’s going to add to our numbers,” he says. “But I think we’ll be short enough of cattle domestically. And once we get past the thought of those cattle coming across, we’re back in good shape. I don’t think there are enough numbers over here to break the market because we’re going to be so short here in the US.”

A date to reopen the southern border to imports of cattle from Mexico has not been set.

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis that she will meet with Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, and its Agriculture Minister, Julio Berdegue, on Monday. “There’s about 250,000 head of cattle waiting to move over,” she says. “But I am not convinced yet that we have this under control.”

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has been a proponent of partially resuming live cattle imports from Mexico to help stabilize supplies. Miller says about 15 percent of feeder cattle come from Mexico, but the lengthy pause has backed up supplies. November to February is the “Mexican feeder cattle season,” and Miller says ports could be reopened in a controlled, incremental way without risking the spread of pests like New World screwworm.