(Photo by Lukas Kosc via Pexels.)<\/p>\n
West Texas\u2019 Lubbock Feeders, a 50,000-head feedlot,\u00a0has announced it will close its gates after\u00a0nearly\u00a070\u00a0years\u00a0in\u00a0operation and more than\u00a05\u00a0million head of cattle fed,\u00a0according to National Beef Wire.\u00a0The facility, opened in 1955, is expected to close as soon as the current contracted cattle inventories are fed and finished.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The reason for the closure is two-fold: a closed Mexican border and historic low cattle numbers. Mexican cattle had made up 60 to 70% of Lubbock Feeders inventory for years prior to the reemergence of New World screwworm in Mexico several years ago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In November 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture closed the Mexican border due to concerns of spreading NWS to the beef herd in the\u00a0United States, Lubbock Feeders were faced with major supply challenges. The feedlot was already struggling with the low numbers cattle the rest of the U.S. was, but this decision\u00a0immediately\u00a0reduced\u00a0most\u00a0of its\u00a0cattle inventory overnight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Continued reports of NWS in Mexico have prevented the USDA from\u00a0reopening\u00a0the border, and with the smallest U.S. calf crop since 1941, the ownership at Lubbock Feeders felt closure with their only\u00a0option.\u00a0Lubbock Feeders manager and CEO Kyle Williams\u00a0said the decision to close was difficult because it ended a multi-generation feedlot business and left long-time employees and partners without their jobs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n