New Mexico

Next Step in the Screwworm Fight: USDA Announces Opening of Sterile Fly Dispersal Facility in Tampico, Mexico

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:50:03 GMT

USDA announced Thursday the opening of a sterile fly dispersal facility in Tampico, Mexico. The Tampico facility will allow USDA to disperse sterile flies aerially across northeastern Mexico, including in Nuevo Leon. This announcement is the next milestone in the fight against New World screwworm (NWS).

“The opening of the Tampico sterile fly dispersal facility is another incredibly important tool in our arsenal to stop the spread of screwworm. The facility will ensure flexibility and responsiveness in northern Mexico, giving us a greater ability to drop sterile flies and continue to push the pest south,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in a press release . “Stopping the spread of screwworm is a top priority for the entire Trump administration.”

Last week Rollins met with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her counterpart Secretary Julio Berdegue on the joint response to NWS.

“We are boosting our efforts and completing a joint review of our screwworm operations in Mexico to ensure our protocols are being followed,” she says. “As we enter the winter months , we continue to prioritize the response in Mexico and the rest of our five-pronged plan to protect U.S. livestock and the livelihoods of American farmers and ranchers.”

A proven method for NWS eradication is releasing sterile male flies to mate with wild females collapsing the population over time. There are two methods of dispersing sterile insects – aerial dispersal and ground release chambers. Aerial operations are preferred because they allow for dispersal at a steady rate through a large area and also because sterile insects may be dispersed in areas that are unreachable from the ground. Ground release chambers are used when there’s a need to quickly deploy sterile insects outside of the dispersal facility range.

Learn more about NWS:
The Smell You’ll Never Forget: A Calf Infested with New World Screwworm

According to the press release, USDA continues to disperse 100 million sterile flies per week in Mexico, but until now, aerial operations have been limited to southern Mexico, necessitating the use of ground release chambers in more northern areas of the country. Mass production and targeted dispersal of sterile flies remain critical components of our effective response.

Although Mexico continues to confirm new cases of NWS, the overwhelming majority of these remain in the far southern part of the country, with no significant northward expansion over the past several months. Should that change, the Tampico facility will allow USDA to immediately tackle any cases that occur elsewhere in Mexico.

The two northernmost detections (approximately 70 and 170 miles from the U.S. border, respectively) occurred in Nuevo León, on Sept. 20 and Oct. 5 , in young cattle transported from Chiapas, Mexico.

Neither case is still active and there have been no additional detections of NWS flies in traps or cases in animals in Nuevo Leon. USDA continues to disperse sterile insects in Nuevo Leon, and will now transition from ground release chambers to aerial dispersal in those areas.

USDA produces sterile flies for dispersal at the COPEG facility in Panama. USDA is also investing $21 million to support Mexico’s renovation of an existing fruit fly facility in Metapa — which will double NWS production capacity once complete. With ongoing support from APHIS technical experts, Mexico anticipates this sterile fly production to begin as soon as summer 2026.

To expand our domestic response capacity, USDA has also begun construction on a sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas, that is projected to begin operating in early 2026. APHIS is also expediting design and construction of a sterile fly production facility in southern Texas, with a targeted maximum capacity of 300 million sterile flies per week.

USDA continues to work with Mexico’s agriculture authority, SENASICA, to implement the collaborative NWS Action Plan and guide trapping, surveillance and movement protocols to help stop the northward spread of NWS.

Trade Mission While In Mexico

While Rollins was in Mexico last week, she also led the largest U.S. Department of Agriculture agribusiness trade mission in history. During the mission, 41 U.S. businesses, 33 cooperators and agriculture advocacy groups, six state departments of agriculture, and 150 participants conducted more than 500 business-to-business meetings during the three days.

According to a USDA press release , “This was a critical opportunity for American business to further trade ties and for USDA to continue its aggressive response to NWS in Mexico and continue to hold Mexico accountable for its commitments to the 1944 Water Treaty.”

Honored to lead the largest @USDA Agribusiness Trade Mission in US history to Mexico City!

Over three days, our delegation of 41 US businesses, 33 cooperators, 6 state departments of agriculture, and 150 participants held more than 500 business-to-business meetings - deepening a… pic.twitter.com/39rGi9Snhj
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) November 13, 2025

Your Next Read: Preparing for the Battle Continues: USDA Shares Screwworm Update and Releases NWS Playbook

U.S.-Mexico Border Battle Continues As the Threat of New World Screwworm Intensifies

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 20:04:07 GMT

With New World screwworm (NWS) confirmed just 70 miles from the U.S. border , producers, government officials and industry leaders are taking action. Finding NWS along one of the most heavily trafficked commercial thoroughfares in the world from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, to Laredo, Texas, is a red flag for the industry. Emphasizing the importance of maintaining strong safeguards, it’s time to plan for not “if but when” NWS crosses the border.

On Monday, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins confirmed protecting the U.S. from NWS is non-negotiable and a top priority for President Trump.

UPDATE ON SCREWWORM THREAT:

Protecting the United States from New World Screwworm is non-negotiable and a top priority for @POTUS.@USDA landed boots on the ground this morning in Nuevo Leon, physically inspecting traps and dispersing sterile flies after the detection of the…
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) September 23, 2025

“The southern border remains closed to livestock trade, and we are aggressively expanding trapping and surveillance,” she wrote. “At the same time, we’re expediting operations at our sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in Texas .”

On Tuesday, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins reported 80,000 sterile flies were released on “spot” and nearly 200 surge staff had been deployed to Mexico.

Thank you, @IngrahamAngle, for paying attention to this important issue. Due to multiple failures from our southern neighbors and failure to act in the last Admin, the devastating parasite New World Screwworm is knocking on our southern borders door. We’re not waiting, we’re… pic.twitter.com/ZO5Vx5oes8
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) September 24, 2025

Mexico’s Response To New World Screwworm

According to Reuters, Mexican’s agriculture ministry said there is no risk of adult screwworm fly emergence due to the early detection of the infected bovine, which was confirmed on Sept. 21. The infected animal was in a shipment of 100 animals originating from the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, according to the statement.

Fly traps in northern Mexico have not detected a single screwworm fly.

U.S.-Mexico Border Remains Closed to Cattle Trade

The Mexican border closure remains a topic of debate. The September Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor found 80% of ag economists surveyed oppose reopening the border to Mexican cattle due to screwworm risks.

(Farm Journal)

The border closure has created significant division within the cattle industry with producers, feeders and industry leaders on both sides of the fence.

“We have some cattle people that are glad it’s closed. We’ve got others who are hit pretty hard and are not happy about it,” explains David Anderson, Texas A&M professor and extension specialist — livestock and food product marketing.

NWS is a threat the industry can not ignore, says the ag economist with more than 30 years under his belt.

“I think this is the most serious problem the industry has faced since I’ve been a livestock economist,” he stresses.

From his perspective, keeping the border open with heightened monitoring and surveillance could have potentially been more effective than implementing a total closure.

“If we go back and look at data from the early ‘70s, when we had a big screwworm outbreak in the U.S. and Mexico, the border was open,” he says. “I probably would have leaned to not closing the border to begin with. I understand why you would want to do that, but I don’t know that it’s ended up reducing the likelihood that we’re going to get screwworms, and yet we’re paying a price for that.”

According to Anderson the economic consequences to the border being closed are:

Significant loss of approximately 26,000 imported cattle weekly
Estimated 18% reduction in cattle placements in Southern plains
Contributed to tighter beef supplies and higher consumer prices
Substantial economic hit to cattle feeders and ranchers

At this point, he’s quick to admit keeping the border closed is the best option.

When it comes to reopening the border, Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist with Oklahoma State University, suggests the decision is not straightforward.

“Given everything I’ve experienced, it’s probably prudent to leave the border closed,” he says.

He adds any reopening should be “under very, very controlled, limited circumstances.”

Peel emphasizes the need for a collaborative approach with Mexico.

“We’re kind of in it together, and so whether it’s here or there, we’ve got to work together,” he summarizes. “We’re going to need to control it in both places. Otherwise, it’s not going to benefit either one of us.”

He also points out not everybody in Mexico is sorry the border is closed. For example, cattle buyers in Mexico can source cattle cheaper because the border is closed.

“Keeping the border closed does affect the movement of cattle south of the border ... it builds a backstop for cattle movement north,” he adds.

Peel notes cattle from Central America to Panama have increasingly made their way to the Mexican market, which validates NWS movement in Mexico and why recent confirmation has occurred.

“The longer this goes on, the more the Mexican industry will adjust,” he says. “It might permanently change the way the [U.S. and Mexico] work together.”

Texas Rancher Weighs In On Impact of New World Screwworm

Texas rancher Wayne Cockrell says the parasite’s entry into the U.S. is inevitable, suggesting that winter and colder weather might temporarily delay the spread until next April or May. Cockrell, who serves as the Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association director and chair of the cattle health and well-being policy committee, recently joined AgriTalk to talk about NWS.

“We would much rather stop this on Mexico’s southern border than our Southern border,” Cockrell says.

Mexican feeder cattle traditionally represented 30% of Texas feedyard inventory, he adds, but with current restrictions, feedlots are adapting.

“I think a lot of those feedyards have moved to the dairy-cross side,” he adds. “They have had to change the way they do business.”

Noting the broader economic implications of the border closure, 1.2 million fewer cattle for Texas represents “about two weeks” of impact nationwide, according to Cockrell.

“Winter and sterile flies is what we need now,” Cockrell summarizes.

Your Next Read: The Smell You’ll Never Forget: A Calf Infested with New World Screwworm

The Sweetest States: Where America Loves Ice Cream Most

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 20:11:16 GMT

July is National Ice Cream Month, and Americans are indulging like never before. But which states truly have the biggest sweet tooth? Recent research from SpinBlitz analyzed Google Maps listings nationwide to rank states by ice cream shop density, specifically the number of ice cream shops per 100,000 residents. Here are the top states who take their frozen dairy treats most seriously.

Top 10 Ice Cream-Loving States

1. Vermont (18.51 shops per 100K residents) Vermont tops the list with the highest number of ice cream shops per capita, and it’s not just thanks to Ben & Jerry’s. The state has a strong dairy foundation and a deep appreciation for small-batch, locally made ice cream. Whether in rural towns or tourist-friendly spots, ice cream shops are a visible part of Vermont’s food culture.

2. West Virginia (18.08) West Virginia ranks second in ice cream shop density thanks to a strong presence of locally owned parlors, custard stands and small-town scoop shops. It might not be a headline-grabbing food destination, but the state has a steady, long-standing appreciation for traditional favorites like banana splits, hand-dipped cones and floats.

3. Rhode Island (17.84) Rhode Island earns bronze in the nation for ice cream shop density. Known for regional favorites like frozen lemonade and coffee milkshakes, the state also supports a strong network of ice cream parlors across its coastal towns and neighborhoods. From tourist areas to local main streets, frozen treats are easy to find.

4. Pennsylvania (17.58) Pennsylvania ranks fourth with a diverse ice cream scene that reflects its mix of communities. From family-run creameries in rural areas to innovative shops in urban centers, the state offers a wide range of frozen dessert options.

5. Wisconsin (16.44) Known far and wide for its cheese, Wisconsin also delivers big on ice cream. Known as the Dairy State, it’s no surprise the state is brimming with mom-and-pop scoop shops, custard stands and local brands producing rich ice cream. Whether you’re at a farmstead creamery or a college-town cone counter, Wisconsin’s pride for ice cream shines.

6. Illinois (16.12) Chicago might be the driving force behind Illinois’ ranking, with its booming food scene filled with Instagram-worthy sundaes, small-batch gelato and quirky flavors. But don’t overlook the rural towns and suburbs, where old-school diners and small-town scoop shops keep the classics alive.

7. New Mexico (15.89) The only Southwestern state to crack the top 10, New Mexico might surprise you. But with sizzling summer temperatures and a thriving local food culture, it makes sense frozen treats are in demand. You’ll find shops serving everything from chile-spiked chocolate to cactus fruit sorbet.

8. Michigan (15.79) Snow doesn’t stop Michiganders from indulging. With thousands of inland lakes and summer tourists flooding towns like Traverse City and Petoskey, ice cream is a lakeside staple. From old-fashioned scoops to cherry-studded blends, Michigan’s ice cream culture is powered by nostalgia, local ingredients and a serious sweet tooth.

9. New Hampshire (15.54) New England knows its dairy, and New Hampshire is no exception. This state might not be flashy, but its abundance of seasonal roadside stands, maple-infused flavors and mom-and-pop ice cream stops make it a solid contender. Summer drives through the mountains or along the lakes are rarely complete without a cone in hand.

10. New York (15.35) New York ranks 10^th, where ice cream is as diverse as the state itself. From trendy, creative scoop shops and food trucks in the heart of New York City to time-tested creameries in upstate towns, there’s a flavor and style for everyone. With tourists and locals alike lining up for their favorite cones, New York’s ice cream doesn’t disappoint.

See How Your State Stacks Up in the Ice Cream Race
Whether you’re craving a classic cone or something a little more adventurous, it’s clear that some states really know how to satisfy that ice cream craving. Curious how all 50 states stack up in the great ice cream showdown? Check out the full ranking and see where your home ranks:

Rank	State	Ice Cream Shops per 100,000 residents
1	Vermont	18.51
2	West Virginia	18.08
3	Rhode Island	17.84
4	Pennsylvania	17.58
5	Wisconsin	16.44
6	Illinois	16.12
7	New Mexico	15.89
8	Michigan	15.79
9	New Hampshire	15.54
10	New York	15.35
11	Massachusetts	14.99
12	North Dakota	14.92
13	Ohio	14.90
14	Maine	14.89
15	Nebraska	14.83
16	Alaska	14.79
17	Indiana	14.78
18	Idaho	14.27
19	Delaware	14.05
20	Montana	14.00
21	South Dakota	13.96
22	Hawaii	13.78
23	Florida	13.67
24	New Jersey	13.61
25	Wyoming	13.56
26	Mississippi	13.25
27	Iowa	13.02
28	North Carolina	12.58
29	Texas	12.40
30	Arkansas	12.23
31	California	12.10
32	Arizona	12.09
33	Kansas	11.71
34	Connecticut	11.60
35	Virginia	11.25
36	Oklahoma	10.66
37	Nevada	10.54
38	Utah	10.38
39	Minnesota	10.37
40	Oregon	10.37
41	Tennessee	10.26
42	Louisiana	10.20
43	Georgia	10.00
44	Colorado	9.98
45	Kentucky	9.73
46	Washington	9.43
47	Alabama	9.23
48	South Carolina	8.80
49	Maryland	8.56
50	Missouri	8.44

New Plant Capacity Collides with Shrinking Milk Supply

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 17:00:00 GMT

For the past few years, some U.S. dairy producers have been urging the dairy industry to build new processing facilities so they can expand their operations and have a place to sell their additional milk. Their requests are now becoming a reality, but the timing appears to be challenging, said Betty Berning, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report.

“Scarce heifer supplies and the time required to raise a calf to mature milk cow remain long-term barriers to rapid growth in U.S. milk output.” Berning said. “At the same time, milk supplies are shrinking in some of the areas that have been experiencing the largest investments in processing capacity.”

In January, the U.S. milk herd was at its lowest point in more than four years, and heifer inventories were at their lowest level since 2004. Milk will remain particularly tight in the Southwest. New Mexico’s herd and resulting production, for example, have been rapidly declining for several years. New Mexico’s milk cow herd has fallen by 97,000 head between January 2021 and January 2024, according to USDA data. In neighboring Texas, a state that had been growing exponentially, milk cow numbers have been flat since June 2023 at 635,000 head, down from the state’s peak of 650,000 in March 2023.

“While Some Texas producers have added cows to supply the new cheese facility there, others have left the state due to costly feed and inadequate milk revenue,” Berning said.

Last year, processors opened several plants across the country and more will come online this year and in 2025 and 2026. The largest projects have been and will continue to be cheese-centric and located in the central and southwestern United States. About a year ago, production began on a new cheese plant in the Texas Panhandle, and other manufacturing plants are slated to come online in 2025 and 2026 in the Panhandle and near Waco, Texas, respectively.

“In addition, new cheese capacity will come online in southwest Kansas this year. While Kansas producers added 3,000 cows last year, that does not seem like it will be enough to fill the state’s new capacity. Before last year’s expansion, cow numbers in Kansas have been flat since 2001,” Berning said.

New investment in ice cream, cheese, and value-added fluid milk projects is also slated to open in the Northeast. The projects range from an expansion of current facilities to new builds, Berning said, and small cheese-related projects are also in the works in the Upper Midwest.

“Cheese plants in the Southwest will receive priority, and dryers in the region are already running light as new processing draws milk from a shrinking regional milk supply. There is no excess milk in the Southwest, so the milk that once made its way out of the area to the milk-deficit Southeast will stay put,” Berning said. “Southeast plants will thus need to pull milk from other regions, potentially from the Mideast or Northeast, allowing producers in those regions to expand.”

On the positive side, in New York where processing is being added, cow numbers climbed 6,000 head year over year in 2023. Expansion also occurred last year in nearby Indiana, up 5,000 head, and in Ohio, up 3,000 head.

“That could help support new expansions in the Northeast,” Berning added.

For more industry news, read:

Air Force Pollution Forces New Mexico Dairy to Euthanize 3,665 Cows

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 18:44:12 GMT

Art Schaap, owner of Highland Dairy in Clovis, New Mexico, has been living a nightmare for the past four years. Fortunately, it sounds like the nightmare might soon be reaching its end.

In August 2018, Schaap received word that seven of the 13 wells located on his dairy had been contaminated by toxins called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS.) These toxic chemicals entered the groundwater after aqueous film-forming foam, a substance used to smother flames in fire training exercises, were used at the nearby Cannon Air Force Base.

A July 2017 inspection by Air Force scientists found contamination near the Schaap dairy – an inspection that came eight years after the Air Force identified the need for such an inspection, The Guardian reports. The Air Force reported its findings to the New Mexico Environment Department, but not to the people living nearby. When the Air Force finally tested Schaap’s water on Aug. 28, 2018, it was found to be so polluted the military immediately began delivering bottled water to the family’s home. One of Schaap’s wells tested at 12,000 parts per trillion, or 171 times the EPA health advisory level of 70 ppt.

“It’s potentially been in the groundwater the whole time I’ve owned the dairy,” Schaap said.

Unfortunately, the contaminated wells provided drinking water to Schaap’s entire herd. Testing showed the cows, along with the milk they produced, contained PFAS at levels the U.S. Food and Drug Administration deemed unsafe for human consumption. With the milk deemed unsafe, Schaap was forced to dump approximately 15,000 gal. of milk each day.

“This has poisoned everything I’ve worked for and everything I care about,” Schaap told New Mexico Political Report. “I can’t sell the milk. I can’t sell beef. I can’t sell the cows. I can’t sell crops or my property. The Air Force knew they had contamination. What I really wonder is, why didn’t they say something?”

Disposing of the Herd

Four years later, Schaap’s nightmare is finally coming to an end, but not without heartache. After discovering the PFAS toxins were present in his animals, Schaap knew that someday he would be forced to euthanize his entire herd. Unfortunately, that day has come.

Earlier this month, Highland Dairy, with assistance and direction from the State Veterinarian and the New Mexico Livestock Board, humanely euthanized 3,665 cows – Schaap’s entire herd.

The current estimated cost of this loss of revenue and increased expenses is $5,946,462, which does not account for upcoming costs associated with the on-farm composting of animal mortalities and final disposal, according to a New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) news release.

News of the herd’s dispersal is not only striking a nerve with the public, but government officials as well.

“The Department of Defense poisoned Highland Dairy’s cows, and the loss is devastating and heartbreaking,” said James Kenney, New Mexico Environment Department cabinet secretary. “Rather than take responsibility for its PFAS pollution, the Department of Defense put a family farm out of business and has the audacity to continue its litigation against New Mexico – forcing New Mexicans to pay for cleanup and legal costs. As a result, we are now assisting Highland Dairy in managing dairy cow carcasses as hazardous substances and seeking input from experts on treatment and disposal options.”

NMED is the state agency overseeing Highland Dairy’s plan for disposal of PFAS-contaminated livestock, which is required for the dairy to qualify for cow indemnity under USDA’s Dairy Indemnity Payment Program. The program, which USDA expanded late last year, provides payments to dairy producers for the lost value of their herd due to contamination from livestock exposure to chemicals, such as PFAS.

Now, with the animals euthanized, a disposal plan has been set in place.

In the first phase of the plan, the dairy will compost all PFAS-contaminated carcasses on the farm. In the second phase, the dairy will conduct a PFAS analysis of the composted material and any other material to determine final removal and disposal options.

According to the NMED press release, the Highland Dairy removal plan is the first of its kind nationally for addressing PFAS-contaminated cows as a hazardous waste and was developed in consultation with the USDA Farm Service Agency, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the State Veterinarian of New Mexico, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and NMED.

“I support NMED’s science-based approach to ensure that livestock and other agricultural sectors are safe,” says Jeff Witte, director/secretary of New Mexico Department of Agriculture. “We, unfortunately, already witnessed how PFAS contamination affected a New Mexico dairy.”

The state Environment Department says it has allocated $850,000 of its hazardous waste emergency waste for cleanup of the carcasses and associated wastes. The department estimates it has now spent over $6 million to protect communities from PFAS.

“All states are dealing with PFAS and the agricultural industry. That’s not uncommon. What is uncommon is that New Mexico has the first case to my knowledge in which 3,600 cows have been euthanized. We’re treating PFAS like it should be treated, a hazardous waste,” Kenney says.

While steps are being taken to help resolve this contamination issue, it doesn’t take away the fact that lives were impacted by the chemicals used in training exercises at Cannon Air Force Base.

“Cannon Air Force Base knows what they have done to the groundwater,” Schaap says. “They expect military personnel to have integrity, but what they are doing to the Clovis community and the farms near the base does not demonstrate integrity. They need to own the pollution.”

Tornado Damages Dairies in New Mexico Forcing Cows to be Put Down

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:06:19 GMT

A tornado in New Mexico that damaged homes and injured people also hit several dairies, forcing at least one farm to euthanize more than 150 cattle.

On the evening of March 12, a tornado touched down between Dexter and Hagerman, New Mexico , hitting an area that has a number of dairy farms and calf ranches. Reports of the damage to the farms has been limited, but according to Chaves County Sheriff Mike Herrington at least one dairy had to put down at least 150 cows because of injuries sustained from flying debris.

Dairy farmers in the area contacted by Dairy Herd Management reported that several farms were impacted by the storm. The majority of farms in area are open lot dairies and some fencing was damaged releasing cattle from their pens or wheat pasture. The dairy that received the worst damage reportedly had a team of veterinarians helping sew up injured animals and euthanizing those that were too injured to recover.

New Mexico State University Extension dairy specialist Robert Hagevoort shares that farmers in the Dexter-area are working to care for animals following the storm.

“The impression I get is that the damage is substantial across the affected area,” Hagevoort says.

Social media images being shared following the storm show sheds for hay and equipment storage that have had roofs torn off. Tarps covering silage piles can be seen blown into fences and center pivots were blown over in crop fields, as well.

Not only did the tornado damage a number of farms, it also wiped out 10 homes and injured five people around Dexter, a town of 5,000 people about 18 miles south of Roswell. Sheriff Herrington says that the injuries to the people were all non-life threatening.

Recovery efforts after the tornado were compounded by the fact that winds continued to blow at speeds up to 60-70 miles per hour the following day, moving debris at high speeds across the open landscape.

“It’s flying around like shrapnel,” Herrington says. “It’s blowing in a circle ... It’s just not a good, safe environment.”

Damage from the tornado and wind storm can be seen in the following social media images and videos:

State Police on scene of a #trainderailment on SR 469 near Logan, NM involving 26 rail cars. No injuries reported. Wind was contributing factor in crash. pic.twitter.com/Qp6pzr0ee1
— NMSP (@NMStatePolice) March 13, 2019

Enroute to view last nights tornado damage in Chaves County came across a flipped-semi. Me and my coworker found the driver, cut him out of the cab, and stayed with him until state police arrived. #EmergencyManagement #miercolesmalo @NMDHSEM pic.twitter.com/nEwbIh9Mjy
— Sara Gerlitz Peck (@Sara_Gerlitz) March 14, 2019

Below is a series of videos taken by Courtney Munoz showing the damage on farms:

The full post with pictures can be seen below:

Canada's Saputo Buys Two U.S. Cheese Processing Plants for $85 Million

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 05:53:45 GMT

Canadian dairy company Saputo Inc. is purchasing two cheese processing plants in New Mexico and Wisconsin, helping expand the dairy processors footprint in the U.S.

Saputo made the announcement on Oct. 26 that the processor was buying F&A Dairy Products, Inc. Included in the purchase are two manufacturing facilities located in Las Cruces, New Mexico and Dresser, Wisconsin. F&A Dairy Products employs 170 people.

The purchase amount is US$85 million (approximately CDN$111 million) and will be paid in cash from cash on hand and available credit facilities.

A variety of natural cheeses, including mozzarella and provolone, are produced by F&A Dairy Products. The company ships products to Mexico and throughout the U.S. During a 12 month period ending on Aug. 31, 2018, F&A Dairy Products created approximately US$163 million (CDN$212 million) in revenue.

The transaction is pending some customary conditions which includes regulatory approval. The sale is expected to be closed by the end of 2018.

The purchase of F&A Dairy Products is the latest by Saputo in a number of moves made to expand in the U.S. Last year, Saputo bought an extended shelf-life dairy plant from Southeast Milk in Florida. In 2013, Morningstar Foods formerly owned by Dean Foods Company was purchased, giving Saputo an offering dairy and non-dairy extended shelf-life in the U.S. Other U.S. processing plants have been purchased in the past decade such as two California cheese plants and a Wisconsin cheese plant.

Saputo operates a U.S. division that includes the Dairystar and Friendship Dairies brands and markets a number of products under the label, including: milk, cottage cheese, ice cream, creamers and whipped cream.

According to RaboBank , Saputo is the 8^th largest dairy processor in the world after switching spots with China’s Yilli Group. Prior to buying Australia’s Murray Goulburn Co-Operative Co. this year, Saputo had 50 manufacturing facilities in Canada, the U.S., Australia and Argentina, employing approximately 12,800 people.