Under Trump and Rollins, Screwworm Outbreak Threatens To Devastate a Farm Economy Already in Crisis Arrow

During a press conference today, Brooke Rollins announced a fifth case of screwworm, the third new infection announced today.

Under Donald Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the farm economy is in crisis, prices at the grocery store are rising, and now five cases of screwworm that threaten the U.S. beef industry have been detected in the U.S. - despite Rollins repeatedly claiming the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has the flesh-eating pest "under control." An outbreak of screwworm could cost the Texas economy $1.8 billion and cost the state's farmers $732 million annually.

REMINDER: Rollins admitted last September that screwworm entering the U.S. could cause the price of beef to skyrocket even more for Americans - prices that have already gone up 24% since Trump took office, surging to nearly $7 a pound this spring with no signs of it coming down.

The Trump administration is directly responsible for this crisis: Last year, it decimated the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which oversees prevention and response efforts related to pests and diseases that pose a threat to U.S. agriculture, including the New World screwworm. From January to June 2025, thousands of employees at the APHIS - about a quarter of the workforce - left the agency or were abruptly terminated as part of the administration's massive cuts to the federal government.

In response,DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer released the following statement:

"Under Donald Trump and Brooke Rollins, farmers and ranchers are suffering, and consumers are grappling with record-high prices. Trump's reckless and harmful cuts and his administration's incompetence have left the U.S.'s food supply vulnerable to outbreaks and risk escalating already high prices for beef. From Trump's unhinged trade war that locked farmers out of their markets to his war with Iran that has made fuel and fertilizer unaffordable, Americans are fed up, and Trump doesn't give a damn."

Trump's deadly and costly war with Iran has only made things worse for farmers as the costs of diesel and fertilizer soar. In a survey of more than 5,700 farmers, 70% of farmers said they will not be able to buy the fertilizer they need because it is too expensive, and 94% of respondents said their financial situation has worsened or remained the same since last year.