Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What was this day, day six or day seven. I
can remember day six or day seven of the shutdown.
I'm sure our next guest remembers because it impacts his world.
He's the head of the Texas Agriculture Department, our commissioner
at said Miller. Welcome to the studio, sir, good morning,
Good to be back with you. I feel like I
should have warned a bolero tie or something today A
(00:20):
while rag around your neck would be better. Little something,
little something something. So the government shut down, I think,
you know, we know what it impacts at the federal level.
I think a lot of people don't realize what it
does at the state level. How is it impacting Texas agriculture?
You know, actually we don't miss the federal government that much.
But you know, about ninety five cents out of every
(00:41):
dollar I spend is federal money. So we do a
lot of the federal programs. The biggest one is I
feed the five million school mills each day. So we're
going to continue to feed the kids. We're not going
to you know, and nothing's interrupted there. So right we're
going to might have school breakfast this morning, we'll have
school launch. Actually, actually this month is National School. Uh
(01:01):
lunch lunch months. So we're we're working on that.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Well, but does the federal money get interrupted? Do you
have to supplement that until the until the government reopens
some things?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
If we go long enough, it does, but it you know,
it takes thirty days for it to get into that.
But we we have contingency plans. It's not the first
shutdown that you know, I went through, So we're we're
well prepared.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Uh, you know, we're you know, all my people are
very worthy of handling this. So nothing nothing to worry
about for the public. Will continue to do our job.
Your food's going to be safe, you know. Uh, everything's
going to operate. We're going to make sure that the
pesticides regulated. Uh, We're going to deliver real health care
on time. Every everything we do will will continue to operate.
(01:49):
We're we're very well prepared for that.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
I know the FDA has approved a new drug that
deals with the screw worm in cattle. That's that's becoming
an increasingly bigger problem here in Texas. I assume the
problem is that isolated towards the border at this point,
or is it spreading.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well that the new drug is something I've been working
on for about six months. We finally got it.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
The problem is we move at the speed of government
and the FDA. Finally we went up about a month
ago and had add lunch with Bobby Kennedy Jr. Laid
all this out and he's, you know, very savvy. He understood.
So we got that done right now. Prior to that,
the whole plan was to use seventy year old technology
(02:30):
to fight the screwworm invasion. But we've got good, good
new technology.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Dector max is the drug you're talking about. Iver Mectin
is another one. Uh. So we can use those and
put it in animal feed, feed it to our deer,
feed it to our livestock, and it will call it
will make them immune. Uh. It's it's it's a preventative
and a cure. So it's it's that's that's big. If
(02:56):
we ever, we don't have it yet.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
The closest one we've had is seventy miles south of
the Little Rado and it was isolated incidents, but unfortunately
it continues to move north out of southern Mexico.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Well, and for those of us who love beef, and
Lord knows, I've eat my fair share of beef over
the years. You know the high price right now, beef
is through the roof. I mean, you go to the
grocery store in your family shops like everybody else's family shops,
not like you were getting a discount on beef. We
know that. You know a lot of this goes back
to the drought and COVID nineteen a lot of other
(03:28):
things that caused ranchers to have to you know, pare
down their herds, make their herd smaller. Is that starting
to turn away? Are we starting to see an increase
in livestock?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Well, actually it's it's compounded. The screw worm has compounded
that because we get about fifteen percent of our feeder
cattle out of Mexico. Well we've shut the border down,
so we haven't gotten any cattle out of Mexico since
last January, so ten months you know backlog. So that's
that's it's very you know, it's compounding the problem. So
(04:00):
that's another fifteen percent off the market, which reflects in
the process. So hopefully we can get this screwworm under control.
I am pushing a fly bait. I mean, it's kind
of cowboy logic. If you want to kill some flies,
put out some bait. But I just can't get the
USDA to buy in on it. They actually used it.
They developed this bait back in nineteen seventy six. Hang on,
(04:21):
they developed it, but you can't convince them to use it. No,
it's to me, it's the stupidest thing I ever heard of.
I said, well, why don't we use the bait again?
It kills ninety percent of the screw worms. They said, well,
it's environmentally insensitive. I said, he what are you talking about.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
That's what I expect to hear from the Biden administration,
not from the Trump administration.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Well, they say it will kill the good flies.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Good flies, which good flies are those that is that
like good fire INDs.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I mean, what is that you're gonna kill? You'd afraid
to kill the house flies or stable flies or I
don't know what that is. But yeah, oh my gosh,
it's like banging my head against the wall. But we're
going to continue to push that. It's the quick fix,
it's the sure fix. It's the only fix. Right now.
They want to use seventy year old technology, which is
sterile mail flies. So this this Screwer and fly mates
(05:11):
one time. So if you get enough sterile males out
there through attrition, we eliminated them last time by doing this,
but it took it took thirty nine years to do it.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
We don't have that, so you're right.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
This bait will knock them out ninety percent of them
in thirty days.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
All right, Well, keep fighting the good fight. Commissioner, thank
you for dropping by today. Good to see you, you bet,
Thank you guys, Text it Texas A Commissioner Sid Miller
What was this day, day six or day seven. I
can remember day six or day seven of the shutdown.
I'm sure our next guest remembers because it impacts his world.
He's the head of the Texas Agriculture Department, our commissioner
at said Miller. Welcome to the studio, sir, good morning,
Good to be back with you. I feel like I
should have warned a bolero tie or something today A
(00:20):
while rag around your neck would be better. Little something,
little something something. So the government shut down, I think,
you know, we know what it impacts at the federal level.
I think a lot of people don't realize what it
does at the state level. How is it impacting Texas agriculture?
You know, actually we don't miss the federal government that much.
But you know, about ninety five cents out of every
(00:41):
dollar I spend is federal money. So we do a
lot of the federal programs. The biggest one is I
feed the five million school mills each day. So we're
going to continue to feed the kids. We're not going
to you know, and nothing's interrupted there. So right we're
going to might have school breakfast this morning, we'll have
school launch. Actually, actually this month is National School. Uh
(01:01):
lunch lunch months. So we're we're working on that.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Well, but does the federal money get interrupted? Do you
have to supplement that until the until the government reopens
some things?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
If we go long enough, it does, but it you know,
it takes thirty days for it to get into that.
But we we have contingency plans. It's not the first
shutdown that you know, I went through, So we're we're
well prepared.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Uh, you know, we're you know, all my people are
very worthy of handling this. So nothing nothing to worry
about for the public. Will continue to do our job.
Your food's going to be safe, you know. Uh, everything's
going to operate. We're going to make sure that the
pesticides regulated. Uh, We're going to deliver real health care
on time. Every everything we do will will continue to operate.
(01:49):
We're we're very well prepared for that.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
I know the FDA has approved a new drug that
deals with the screw worm in cattle. That's that's becoming
an increasingly bigger problem here in Texas. I assume the
problem is that isolated towards the border at this point,
or is it spreading.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well that the new drug is something I've been working
on for about six months. We finally got it.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
The problem is we move at the speed of government
and the FDA. Finally we went up about a month
ago and had add lunch with Bobby Kennedy Jr. Laid
all this out and he's, you know, very savvy. He understood.
So we got that done right now. Prior to that,
the whole plan was to use seventy year old technology
(02:30):
to fight the screwworm invasion. But we've got good, good
new technology.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Dector max is the drug you're talking about. Iver Mectin
is another one. Uh. So we can use those and
put it in animal feed, feed it to our deer,
feed it to our livestock, and it will call it
will make them immune. Uh. It's it's it's a preventative
and a cure. So it's it's that's that's big. If
(02:56):
we ever, we don't have it yet.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
The closest one we've had is seventy miles south of
the Little Rado and it was isolated incidents, but unfortunately
it continues to move north out of southern Mexico.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Well, and for those of us who love beef, and
Lord knows, I've eat my fair share of beef over
the years. You know the high price right now, beef
is through the roof. I mean, you go to the
grocery store in your family shops like everybody else's family shops,
not like you were getting a discount on beef. We
know that. You know a lot of this goes back
to the drought and COVID nineteen a lot of other
(03:28):
things that caused ranchers to have to you know, pare
down their herds, make their herd smaller. Is that starting
to turn away? Are we starting to see an increase
in livestock?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Well, actually it's it's compounded. The screw worm has compounded
that because we get about fifteen percent of our feeder
cattle out of Mexico. Well we've shut the border down,
so we haven't gotten any cattle out of Mexico since
last January, so ten months you know backlog. So that's
that's it's very you know, it's compounding the problem. So
(04:00):
that's another fifteen percent off the market, which reflects in
the process. So hopefully we can get this screwworm under control.
I am pushing a fly bait. I mean, it's kind
of cowboy logic. If you want to kill some flies,
put out some bait. But I just can't get the
USDA to buy in on it. They actually used it.
They developed this bait back in nineteen seventy six. Hang on,
(04:21):
they developed it, but you can't convince them to use it. No,
it's to me, it's the stupidest thing I ever heard of.
I said, well, why don't we use the bait again?
It kills ninety percent of the screw worms. They said, well,
it's environmentally insensitive. I said, he what are you talking about.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
That's what I expect to hear from the Biden administration,
not from the Trump administration.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Well, they say it will kill the good flies.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Good flies, which good flies are those that is that
like good fire INDs.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I mean, what is that you're gonna kill? You'd afraid
to kill the house flies or stable flies or I
don't know what that is. But yeah, oh my gosh,
it's like banging my head against the wall. But we're
going to continue to push that. It's the quick fix,
it's the sure fix. It's the only fix. Right now.
They want to use seventy year old technology, which is
sterile mail flies. So this this Screwer and fly mates
(05:11):
one time. So if you get enough sterile males out
there through attrition, we eliminated them last time by doing this,
but it took it took thirty nine years to do it.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
We don't have that, so you're right.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
This bait will knock them out ninety percent of them
in thirty days.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
All right, Well, keep fighting the good fight. Commissioner, thank
you for dropping by today. Good to see you, you bet,
Thank you guys, Text it Texas A Commissioner Sid Miller
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