When Will Mexican Cattle Be Allowed Back In The U.S.?

A big question in the American beef industry is when, or if, cattle from Mexico will once again be allowed across the southern U.S. border.  Lee McGlamery, co-owner of MP AgriLytics, doesn’t foresee the resumption of Mexican cattle entering the U.S. anytime soon.

“To me, I think there are some political issues. I also believe that some of the internal interests in Mexico certainly want to keep those cattle at home," McGlamery said.  "I think the packing industry's made a lot of money off those cattle not being able to move to the U.S. So, I think there's limited desire on their side to allow those cattle to come north. And from the U.S., from a risk standpoint, you know, I don't know on the science side, but to me, I just don't know that the benefit outweighs the risk.”

When Mexican cattle are once again approved for import to the U.S., McGlamery said it won’t start at levels previously seen when the ban was implemented.

"Yeah, that would be our guess, because Mexico is in the process of, as we're told, expanding some of their packing capacity down there, as well as building more feed bunks and obviously being able to mitigate this kind of situation for the future," McGlamery added.

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