USDA Opens New Research Laboratory in Texas to Combat Livestock Pests
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service has inaugurated the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas. This 52,000-square-foot facility is dedicated to advancing research on invasive livestock pests, such as flies and ticks, which pose significant threats to cattle production and animal health. The laboratory is equipped with cattle research facilities, genomics laboratories, and areas for pest surveillance and control technologies. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins emphasized the lab's role in preventing the re-establishment of the New World screwworm in the United States. The facility will house two research units focused on livestock arthropod pests and veterinary pest genetics, building on decades of research, including the sterile insect technique that eradicated the screwworm from the U.S. 
