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| The Department of Agriculture announced this week that a facility in Texas to produce sterile flies will open seven months ahead of schedule. (USDA Photo) |
In a subsequent news release, USDA touted several key elements of the agreement, including “Unified Threat Detection” with the use of “unmanned aircraft systems and artificial intelligence.” Other elements addressed information sharing, biosecurity, operational awareness and research and development. The release stated that local, state and tribal partners were involved in the development of the MOU.
Jon Adamy reports in Michigan Farm News that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also announced on X that a “$750 million sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base will open seven months early, in spring 2027.” The department says the facility initially “will produce 100 million sterile flies per week,” eventually increasing to 300 million.
The post on X also revealed Rollins’ review of technology supporting 200 DHS drones, over 1,000 drone flights to survey over 22,000 animals. It also noted over 26,000 trail camera observations and monitoring more than 8,000 NWS traps.
In its news release, USDA stated a continued effort between the departments to thwart cattle smuggling from Central America. It is estimated that 800,000 head are smuggled each year. The crime involves about $320 million in illicit trade and can “often bypass sanitary inspection and traceability systems, allowing potentially diseased or unmonitored animals to move undetected across borders.” This further hampers the effort to eradicate NWS, the release stated.
from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/ydD6uev Agriculture and Homeland Security departments increase coordination to attack screwworm with drones, AI - Entrepreneur Generations
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