Rollins calls Texas ag chief ‘unserious’ amid screwworm threat

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Monday called Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller “unserious” after criticizing the USDA’s response to the growing threat of the flesh-eating New World Screwworm.

Miller, who lost the March Republican primary for a fourth term despite winning President Donald Trump’s endorsement, has repeatedly criticized the USDA’s response after the parasitic pest was detected in Texas last week. He argued that the federal department moved too slowly to control the pest and ignored a response mechanism he suggested.

At a news conference in Texas on Monday about the USDA’s response, Rollins was asked about Miller’s recent claim that farmers would not report a case on their farms for fear the government would impose quarantines.

“This is a very unserious comment made by an unserious agriculture commissioner who maybe only has a few months left,” he said of Miller. “This is also a very dangerous suggestion.”

The rift between Rollins and Miller is effectively pitting top agriculture leaders across the country and the currently pandemic-hit state against each other. And it comes as the Trump administration struggles to control screwworm, which threatens to weaken an already weak cattle herd and drive beef prices even higher.

Rollins, also from Texas, criticized Miller on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” earlier Monday.

“What the Texas agriculture commissioner said is very unfortunate, I’ve known him for a long time,” Rollins said. “He lost his primary for incumbent a few months ago and has had a lot of crazy ideas in his mind for a long time.”

Underscoring the controversy was the fact that Miller, a former rodeo cowboy once considered for Cabinet positions in the Trump administration, was endorsed by Trump just months before losing his primary to Nate Sheets, the candidate backed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Miller was once a longtime Trump surrogate threatening His pursuit of “RINOs” — short for “Republican in name only” — who are “missing the noose” in the 2024 election and his criticism is a rare rebuke of the Trump administration from a close ally.

Trump, who supported Miller, said he was “a MAGA Warrior who has been with me from the very beginning.”

Miller’s feud with the USDA over screwworm began almost immediately after the first case was detected last Wednesday. in a long time expressionHe said Rollins and his department “moved too slowly and relied on a partial solution that took years to fully implement.”

He called on the USDA to implement the Screwworm Adult Suppression System, or SWASS. Developed in 1970It combines insecticides with vicious flies. USDA is currently distributing sterile flies.

Miller appealed directly to Trump, asking him to “take direct control of this response” and “deploy SWASS immediately and direct all available federal resources to this threat before this becomes a full-blown agricultural disaster.”

The USDA is urging cattle producers who detect screwworm to report it immediately as they race to control the pest that can be fatal to cattle if left untreated. The pest spreads through a fly that lays eggs in the animal’s open wound. The eggs hatch into larvae, which then eat the flesh of the affected animal.

If detected early enough, the infestation can be treated and the pest was eradicated from the United States in the 1960s. It does not pose a threat to food safety.

USDA is currently implementing a screwworm playbook similar to that used to eradicate the pest in the past. This includes quarantine zones, increased trapping, surveillance and outreach. USDA also releases sterile flies into the area, which mate with female flies and produce sterile eggs to destroy the parasite.

As the USDA races to increase sterile fly production, CNBC’s Rollins said the administration is working at “Trump pace” against screwworms. This includes breaking ground on a new facility to produce sterile flies and opening a new distribution facility earlier this year.