Livestock Management RANCHING
Still Lots to Do to Avoid a VFD Train Wreck T Richard Sellers
HE FEED AND LIVESTOCK INDUS- tries are less than six
months away from the imple- mentation of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) that was announced about three years ago. And according to Richard Sellers, Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Educa- tion at the American Feed
Industry Association, there is still a lot to do before VFDs can be a smooth part of helping treat animals for disease. Sellers says that there are thousands of labels that still must be updated to refl ect the new regulations that make up the VFD. He offered his comments on the subject at a seminar hosted by the Noble Founda- tion in Ardmore. Asked by Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director
Ron Hays if this regulation has been heavily impacted by politics as well as by activists, he said “Politics is about people — I think the FDA means well, this is a process that has gone on for twenty years to try to change the way that we use drugs in animal agricul- ture and I think they are doing it in a positive manner
62 The Cattleman September 2016
and working with us. In the long run, I think we will be able to work this out. The FDA has been very open in discussions with us and we really appreciate it.” As for the activists, Sellers says that there are groups
who are convinced that the use of drugs of importance to human health by food animals should not be al- lowed to continue. Sellers acknowledges that there is a lot of work to
do in getting the drugs being utilized under a VFD as of January 1. The top priority for producers, accord- ing to Sellers, is to establish a working relationship with a food animal veterinarian — you must become a client of that vet in order for him to be able to write a Veterinary Feed Directive after January 1. After Sellers presented at the Vet Feed Directive
Seminar at the Noble Foundation, he spoke with Ron Hays, director of Farm Programming Radio Oklahoma Network. To read the article or listen to the full conver- sation, go to
http://bit.ly/2awM3Tq and scroll down to the blue bar. Additional conversations on many topics of interest are available at
oklahomafarmreport.com from “Ag News” in the sidebar. Video recordings of the presentations, including that of Richard Sellers, are posted on the Noble Foundation Facebook page.
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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