USDA opens new livestock pest research lab in Texas
On May 27, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) opened a new, state-of-the-art livestock insect research facility in Kerrville, Texas.
Deemed the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory, the 52,000-square-foot facility was designed to develop advanced, innovative technologies to control and eradicate livestock pests like ticks, biting flies and New World screwworm (NWS).
In USDA’s May 27 press release, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins states, “The Trump administration has been committed to eradicating pests which could harm American livestock since President Donald Trump was sworn in. The brand new Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory will allow us to research and find new active measures to keep current and future threats away from our borders.”
A state-of-the-art facility
According to the press release, the state-of-the-art facility will house cutting-edge lab spaces, cattle facilities and a genomics core dedicated to identifying vulnerabilities in livestock pests at the molecular level.
Other research conducted at the facility will focus on improved surveillance and trapping technologies, novel insecticides and acaricides, enhanced pesticide delivery techniques for both livestock and wildlife, sustainable treatment methods for invasive arthropod species and an improved approach to combatting pesticide resistance.
Additionally, USDA notes the facility will house two ARS research units – the Livestock Arthropod Pest Research Unit and the Veterinary Pest Genetics Research Unit. Together, the two will focus on improving the health, sustainability and profitability of the nation’s livestock sector and protect America’s food supply chain from devastating pests.
“This new laboratory will equip our researchers with advanced tools to combat the most destructive invasive insects already impacting the U.S., as well as those posing future threats at our borders,” said ARS Administrator Joon Park. “The important ARS research conducted in Kerrville, Texas will continue to play a vital role in protecting and strengthening the future of the U.S. cattle industry.”
In addition, Rollins reiterates the new facility will strengthen efforts the administration has already been taking to prevent the spread of NWS northward and keep it from crossing the U.S.
“We have taken extraordinary actions to keep NWS out of the U.S., and this lab will help us accelerate our offensive efforts to drive this pest further away from our borders,” she states.
A full-circle moment
According to the press release, the new lab is named after Drs. Edward Knipling and Raymond Bushland – two influential USDA researchers.
“In 1937, Knipling first developed the theory screwworms could be controlled using the sterile male technique. In the early 1950s, Bushland successfully demonstrated the theory worked and viable sterile male screwworms could be produced and used to control screwworm populations,” USDA writes.
“This biocontrol technique, known as Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), became the keystone component of the strategy which eventually led to the eradication of the screwworm from the U.S., Mexico and Central America,” the department adds. “Nearly 80 years later, SIT is still being employed to fight NWS in Mexico and Central America, in an effort to keep the devastating insect from reestablishing itself once again in the U.S.”
With over 80 years of research leading to major breakthroughs in pest control and livestock protection in the Kerrville, Texas area, USDA notes the grand opening of its new facility is a full-circle moment.
“For the last 250 years, our nation has relied on research leading to science-based innovation as a means to overcome some of America’s greatest agricultural challenges, including the exclusion of NWS from the U.S. with novel SIT,” says USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Dr. Scott Hutchins. “The Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory will build on this legacy by protecting livestock health, ensuring America’s ranches remain productive, safe and profitable for generations to come.”
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
