Cattle fever ticks 2023: Strategizing for more effective policy for the next 5, 10, 100 years?

The United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program (CFTEP) has worked since 1906 to safeguard U.S. cattle from babesiosis, a tickborne illness that presents serious animal health concerns. Tick-borne illnesses continue to present serious animal health concerns in Texas, and therefore, CFTEP must continue to develop and implement effective methods to control tick populations and their impact on animal agriculture, in collaboration with Federal, State, and industry partners. This will enable us to effectually and efficiently carry out our work in the current environment of budgetary and other resource constraints and continue to responsive to increased scrutiny from a range of stakeholders regarding our CFTEP activities. The way we conduct our work directly impacts the success of American agriculture. Our CFTEP FY 2021-2025 Strategic and Workforce Plan serves as a means to guide us over the next several years and directly supports the Veterinary Services Strategic Foundations and New Strategic Directions, APHIS Strategic Plan, and other key USDA initiatives. The Plan concentrates and illuminates our efforts to meet contemporary and future tick eradication and mitigation challenges, protects U.S. agriculture, amplifies program analytics, and, enhances our human capital capacity and capability. The development and implementation of outreach, networks, and projects built from objectives in this strategic guidance will be outlined.