The movement to purge anti-microbials from livestock production goes far beyond creating a marketing tool for fast-food retailers.

It’s about managing a very effective group of medications to cut short the development of “super bugs” that are resistant to them.

At Banff Pork Seminar on Jan. 10 and 11, three veterinarians from across the continent – Egan Brockhoff from Alberta, Greg Wideman from Ontario and Clayton Johnson from Illinois – presented the what, why and how regulators, industry and producers are weaning themselves off prophylactic use of anti-microbials and cutting back their reliance on the medication for treating sick or injured animals.

Health professionals in both animal and human disciplines were introduced to a miracle in 1928, when Scottish physician Sir Alexander Fleming discovered and began development of penicillin, a naturally-occurring antibiotic still in use today, said Johnson.

The back side of the blade is that “all use of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic resistance” among the target pathogens, said Johnson.

That inalienable fact, along with public fears about the potential for residual medications in meat, has triggered regulators and industry to evaluate and revise the way anti-microbials are used in raising livestock.

While premiums are available for hog farmers who eliminate the medications from their barns, there is a price to be paid as well, said Johnson. Costs associated with keeping animals healthy by other means, includes an immediate impact on average daily gains and mortality.

Johnson prescribed a partial budget for producers seeking raised-without-antibiotics (RWA) for their herds. The partial budget looks only at what will change, and then evaluates the net cost of making the change. High-health producers should expect 75 to 85 per cent of their pigs to sell at a premium for meeting RWA status at the time of weaning, said Johnson. He cautioned that producers should keep track of packer demand and watch for any seasonal or periodic decreases in premiums.

Wideman said the objective at his clinic is to help producers get the same economic and performance results they have achieved in the past, without the use of antibiotics except where necessary.

He spoke about the value of keeping data to measure the biological and economic performance within their barns, control and elimination of biological diseases, weaning pigs at an appropriate age and continual fine tuning of management practices. Barn staff should focus on critical areas affecting the health and growth of their pigs: Colostrum management to prevent early infections, fostering protocols to check the spread of pathogens in the nursery, processing hygiene, iron and anaemia status, care and auditing when pigs are moved, targets and protocols for treating individual pigs and taking good care of the water systems to provide pigs with good intake of clean water.

There must be good communication within an operation to ensure that all segments are aware of any developing issues, said Wideman. For example, a treatment program that breaks down in the nursery may have implications in the finisher group, he said.

Brockhoff outlined the various regulatory measures that have been phased in by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Ultimately, producers will still have access to the same medications they have been using all along, he said. However, veterinary supervision will become more prevalent and drugs that were available over the counter or as feed additives will now require a prescription, he said.

“All medically-important antibiotics will become prescription only,” said Brockhoff.

Reporting of anti-microbial sales volumes will be mandatory and growth promotion claims will be phased out he said.

In 1999, American producers raised more pigs with fewer sows than at any period in the last century, said Johnson. Access to antibiotics played a major role in that achievement, he said.

“Antibiotics have been a huge component of our success story, which is I think why a lot of us get confused when we open up Twitter, when we watch the news and we see our industry often come under attack for antibiotic concerns.

“Generally, my first reaction to that is just to say flavour of the month. But, unfortunately, I don’t think this is a fad. I would agree with Egan that the regulations are here to stay. The pressure, the record keeping, that is all here to stay, because antibiotic resistance is real.” •

— By Brenda Kossowan