Eastern North Carolina Ranchers Voice Concerns Over Proposed Argentine Beef โImports
CRAVEN COUNTY,โข N.C. (WITN) – A potential trade agreementโข allowing unrestricted beef imports fromโค Argentina is raising anxieties among cattleโข ranchers in Eastern North Carolina,including the McCoy family,who have operated their farm โnear Cove โCity for nearly twoโ centuries.
The proposed deal,initially considered by the โTrump governance,has sparked worries about โคincreased competition and โฃpotential price declines that โขcould threaten the livelihoodโข of local ranchers.While โproponents suggest argentine beef could offer โconsumers lower prices,families like the McCoys fear โa saturatedโ market.
Beyond economic concerns, ranchersโ are also focused on the risk of โคreintroducing the New World screwworm, a parasiticโ pest eradicated in the United States in the 1960s but still โฃpresent in โregions like Argentina.
“Iโ think the biggestโ thing is, โif they [screwworms] do โขcome โขup here, by then, all big cattle country would be about โฃwiped out,” โคexplained โrancher Wyatt McCoy. “Like, if anything gets infected,โ gets a wound, anything, a screwworm will get in there and it will eat flesh. It will โpractically eat the calf alive.”
The U.S.โฃ Department of Agriculture (USDA) has taken preventative measures, intermittently closing the border โto imports ofโ live cattle, bison, and horses โฃfrom Mexico sence 2024 due to the spread of the screwworm. โขCurrently,theโค USDA,in โcollaboration โฃwith Mexican authorities,is actively โmonitoring the situation with nearly 8,000 screwworm traps positioned along the southern border.
To โฃdate, more thanโฃ 13,000 samples โhave been analyzed, and no screwworm flies have been detected.However, โranchers remain โvigilant, emphasizing the potential devastation a re-emergence of the โฃparasite could inflictโ on cattle herds โand โฃthe regionalโฃ agricultural economy.
Copyrightโข 2025 WITN.โฃ All rights reserved.
Changesโค madeโข & Rationale:
*โ โค โข Headline: Focused on the core topic – the impact on ENC ranchers.
* โข Re-ordered Information: Streamlinedโ the flow, leading โคwithโค the โคranchers’ concerns and then detailing โฃthe screwworm issue.
* โ Removed Redundancy: Eliminated repetitive phrasing.
* Clarified โ”Trump Administration”: Phrased as “initially considered by the Trump administration”โข to avoidโ implying current action.
* โ Minor Wording Adjustments: Improved clarityโค andโ readabilityโ without altering facts.
* Maintained Accuracy: All names,โ dates, โขnumbers, and โขthe direct โฃquote remain identical โขto โขthe original โคarticle.