By DTN Staff

OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA is directing $105 million across 40 research and response projects targeting New World screwworm (NWS), a livestock pest capable of inflicting serious animal health losses across U.S. cattle, hog and sheep operations, according to a USDA news release.

The funding emerges from USDA's NWS Grand Challenge, launched Jan. 21, 2026, under Secretary Brooke Rollins' five-part plan to protect the nation's food supply and build long-term NWS resilience. USDA received 226 applications requesting a combined $664 million before selecting the 40 awards through a competitive review panel of USDA, state, and industry experts, according to the release issued on June 16.

The Grand Challenge targets four core priorities: improving sterile NWS fly production capacity, developing novel traps and lures for early detection, advancing NWS therapeutics, and building broader preparedness tools including repellents, ecological modeling, and wildlife surveillance.

Two projects are already underway. Texas A&M AgriLife Research is evaluating electron beam technology as a non-radioactive alternative to cobalt-60 gamma irradiation for sterilizing NWS pupae. Meanwhile, the University of Florida is testing U.S.-made X-ray irradiators using secondary screwworm as a surrogate species, according to the USDA news release.

NWS poses a direct risk to livestock, pets, wildlife, and -- less commonly -- humans and birds, making early detection and rapid eradication central to limiting economic damage in affected regions. USDA's existing NWS infrastructure includes sterile fly production, active surveillance, and cross-border collaboration with neighboring countries. The Grand Challenge is designed to fast-track next-generation technologies that complement those ongoing programs rather than replace them, USDA stated.

USDA will work with each awardee to finalize work and financial plans before funding is deployed, with projects ultimately aimed at sharpening detection speed, accelerating eradication capability, and strengthening response readiness nationwide, according to the release.

-- Information from a June 16 USDA news release.

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Editor's Note: This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by DTN editorial staff.

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