Restricting Antibiotic Access

Restricting Antibiotic Access. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
Are antibiotics a blessing or a bane to livestock production? If you listen to groups like the Sierra Club you would hear, and I quote: “The routine, medically unnecessary use of antibiotics to promote the enhanced growth of livestock is making disease-causing bacteria more resistant to the drugs, which diminishes their power to treat life-threatening diseases in humans.” On the other side of the coin the American Farm Bureau Federation is expressing serious concern about legislation that would place restrictions on the use of antibiotics for livestock by veterinarians and farmers.

LUDLUM: The problem is that this bill makes the assumption that antibiotic use in livestock leads to antibiotic resistance in humans and there are not scientific studies to back up that claim.

Kelli Ludlum is a director of congressional relations with the American Farm Bureau. One of the main concerns Farm Bureau has is that producers could lose valuable tools that help keep animals healthy. Ludlum outlines what the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act could mean for agriculture.

LUDLUM: The unintended consequences would be higher costs for producers, lower degree of animal health and ultimately that has an impact on the food supply.

In addition to the food safety issue, Ludlum points out that American farmers could be placed at a competitive disadvantage in international markets if the proposed legislation is approved.

LUDLUM: This could be one more step in the regulation bucket that we see in terms of making American producers less competitive.

Ludlum explains what the legislation means for consumers.

LUDLUM: In the long run we think this could have some really devastating impacts on consumers. For one thing anything that leads to an increase in the cost of production for meat largely gets transferred to higher prices in the grocery store. There is also the issue of food safety and we use antibiotics today very judiciously to not only keep animals healthy but to keep food safe.

Ludlum explains using preventive treatments reduces the total use of antibiotics in the long run.

LUDLUM: In order to treat sick animals you generally have to use a higher dosage of antibiotics than you do in a preventative manner. So, we really have some real concerns about weather this legislation if it were to pass would even reduce the total amount of antibiotics used.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.