Sonora Ranchers Resume Cattle Exports to the U.S. on September 8

Cattle exports from Sonora to the U.S. will resume on September 8 through Agua Prieta after the inspection chute is replaced. The corridor is reinstituting its appointment schedule.

The Unión Ganadera Regional de Sonora (UGRS) announced that cattle exports to the United States through the Agua Prieta quarantine station will resume on September 8, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection chute developed anomalies that halted crossings as of Friday, August 28.

According to El Universal, the suspension came just days after the Agua Prieta corridor had itself resumed operations in late August, once again cutting off a flow on which Sonoran producers depend to ship their livestock to the U.S. market. The UGRS explained that anomalies in the equipment, operated by USDA personnel, forced a halt to the export process until the chute could be replaced and the safety conditions necessary to restore normal activity were guaranteed. The September 8 announcement means reinstituting the appointment schedule that had been in place before the suspension, according to the organization.

Monday, September 7 is a U.S. federal holiday for Labor Day, which is why the UGRS expects operations to resume on Tuesday, September 8. According to the organization, the contractor estimates that installing the new chute and curing the floors will take between three and four days, a timeline that pushed resumption to after the holiday. In the statement, signed by UGRS president Juan Carlos Ochoa Valenzuela, the organization noted: "We are making conclusive decisions to resolve this technical challenge at the root and ensure that the effort of our people does not stop." The organization added that it will keep producers informed about the equipment replacement and the resumption of operations at the Agua Prieta quarantine station.

The next milestone on the calendar is September 8, when the Agua Prieta station resumes service and the new equipment's operation is verified. In parallel, the possible activation of Nogales as a second crossing route will be a key signal for the Sonoran cattle sector to watch.

This article was drafted with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.

This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.