The U.S. government plans to open what amounts to a fly factory by the end of the year to breed millions of the insects in Texas near the border with Mexico as part of an effort to keep a flesh-eating parasite from infesting American cattle.

Screwworm is a parasitic fly that targets warm-blooded animals and has the potential to disrupt Texas’ $15 billion cattle industry.

The facility will breed millions of sterile New World screwworm flies at Moore Air Base, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Wednesday.