Replace Perimeter Fence Pasture 7

IAW Attachment 1 - Statement of Work, The Livestock Arthropod Pest Research Unit (LAPRU) includes the Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory (CFTRL), which operates under biosecurity at the USDA Moore Air Base near Edinburg, Texas. This is a satellite facility of the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory (KBUSLIRL) in Kerrville, Texas.

Scientific endeavors at the CFTRL deliver technologies that the USDA Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program can integrate to keep the U.S. free of cattle fever ticks in a sustainable manner. This ensures continued prosperity of the U.S. livestock industry. Unique assets at the CFTRL include cattle fever tick colonies, barns for studies with cattle that can be artificially infested with ticks, and pastures providing the ability to conduct studies with infested cattle resembling field conditions.

However, modernization of the facilities is required to keep up with the expansion of the research program at the CFTRL that is underway to meet the expectations of the U.S. livestock industry and other stakeholders groups. The current perimeter fence around pasture 7 is allowing wildlife onto the facility. This puts the facility at risk of losing our quarantine zones.