Disease pressures in the livestock sector featured prominently in 2025 across the spectrum from poultry to cattle. Two of the biggest stories about animal diseases in the past year were highly pathogenic avian influenza and New World screwworm.
Former USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer says that as New World screwworm made its way north through screwworm flies in Mexico, USDA responded in kind.
The United States also closed the border between Mexico and the United States by banning the import of feeder cattle from Mexico which led to higher beef prices in the U.S. due to lower inventory.
On the poultry side of the livestock sector, Meyer says that HPAI was one of the first things he spoke to new USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins about in early 2025.
Meyer explains the situation for HPAI late in 2025.
Meyer says if current trends of lower numbers of HPAI outbreaks in commercial operations continue, consumers could see significantly lower egg prices in the spring of 2026.
