Overview
- USDA selected Mortenson Construction to build a sterile-fly production facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers partnering on oversight, design, engineering, and construction.
- Groundbreaking is planned for later this spring following initial planning and development meetings with the contractor, according to federal officials.
- Officials set an initial output target of 100 million sterile flies per week by November 2027, with construction continuing toward a long-term goal of 300 million per week.
- The Texas plant would be the first domestic sterile-fly facility, easing current U.S. dependence on a single Panama operation that produces about 100 million flies weekly.
- Mexico expects a southern facility to reopen in about two months after a $21 million USDA investment, increasing regional sterile-fly supply.