RESEARCH ▶▶▶
Farm-specific reduction of antimicrobial use is the future
A closer study of the data collected in a European project entitled ‘Ecology from farm to fork of microbial drug resistance and transmission’ links technical farm performance to antimicrobial use.
BY J.L. ROSKAM, A.G.J.M. OUDE LANSINK AND H.W. SAATKAMP, POULTRY SCIENCE A
ntimicrobial agents have been widely used in vet- erinary medicine and growth promotion. The ad- vantages of veterinary antimicrobial use offer more than just animal health and welfare, it may
yield economic benefits through increased production efficiency. Besides the clear benefits, antimicrobial use results in increased antimicrobial resistant micro-organisms which can be transferred from animal production to the human population. The use of antimicrobial growth promoters is banned and governments have introduced policies to reduce the use of all antimicrobial agents. Generic measures have been taken but the reduction targets set are not based on any evidence- based dose:effect relationship. Generic measures need to be adjusted to the farm-specific conditions. This study focused on the relationship between technical farm performance and antimicrobial use. Studies in pigs by cluster analysis showed that there is a link between these two aspects and farms could be ranked as ‘superior’ or ‘average’ in terms of their farm char- acteristics, biosecurity and health status. These relationships for pig and poultry farms were not found in other studies however. Data for this study were collected as part of a Euro-
pean project entitled ‘Ecology from farm to fork of microbial drug resistance and transmission’.
Performance indicator A multidimensional performance indicator of technical farm performance was used instead of a one-dimensional indica- tor. Technical efficiency was used to measure technical farm performance, i.e. the ability of a farmer to produce maximum output with a given minimum of inputs or the minimum input needed to produce a defined level of output. Cluster analysis was used to identify groups of farms with similar characteristics in terms of technical farm performance and antimicrobial use. Farms combined in different clusters showed different levels of technical performance and antimi- crobial use. There were significant differences between clus- ters, including in the resource intensity of the number of ani- mals at set-up and the number of antimicrobial treatments used for gut health or other problems. It was observed that farmers who combine high levels of antimicrobial use with high technical farm performance are likely to overestimate the real economic value of antimicrobial use. While the farm confditions of low performance farms are likely to be poor. Farm-specific conditions should be considered in future policies aimed at reducing antimicrobial use.
▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 4, 2020
Farm-specific conditions and practices should be looked at for effective antibi- otic reduction.
41
PHOTO: KOOS GROENEWOLD
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
