Gov. Greg Abbott was joined by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins at the Texas Capitol where Rollins announced the federal government’s plan to spend up to $850 million to prevent the New World screwworm’s arrival in the United States.

Rollins announces plan to build a facility in Edinburg, Texas, capable of producing 300 million sterile screw worm flies per week that is estimated to be in production in one year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture moved to terminate union contracts with thousands of employees of its animal health and food safety inspection agencies, according to documents seen by Reuters, as one union on Wednesday challenged the firings in court.

USDA shocked the market with the August World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE), in particular the record corn yield of 188.8 bu., which was well above trade guesses and nearly 10 bu. above last year.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on USDA’s announcement that it will open a domestic sterile fly production facility to battle the New World screwworm.

Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee questioned the agency's motivations and reasoning in forcing several thousand workers to relocate.

Information sent to NAAE, which was part of the lawsuit, said this recent action was part of President Trump’s executive order from March 27 (Executive Order 14251) that excluded certain federal workers from collective bargaining due to “national security.

Corn markets dropped after the August USDA report. But Allison Thompson of The Money Farm says sometimes an August report looked ugly on paper but ends up being the low point for the market.

August 15, 2025 – Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee sent Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins an eight-page letter on Wednesday, asking for more information about her plan to significantly reorganize the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Scott Varilek with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the big losses in the cattle market on Thursday were tied to concerns ahead of USDA's New World screwworm (NWS) announcement. Grains are bouncing on value and technical buying.