Projects

Antibiotic Stewardship in Food Animal Production

Farm Foundation has done extensive work in the area of the stewardship of antibiotics in the production of food animals.

A group of major food companies, retailers, livestock producers, and trade and professional association announced a comprehensive framework to strengthen stewardship of antibiotic use in food animals.  This framework was the product of a two-year dialogue among stakeholders moderated by Farm Foundation the Pew Charitable Trusts to ensure that antibiotics are used judiciously throughout production to protect animal and public health.

In collaboration with USDA’s Economic Research Service, Farm Foundation presented the workshop, Challenges to Changing Antibiotic Use in Food Animal Production, at which researchers, agency staff, educators and medical personnel examined the economics, data and policies relevant to the issue.

Farm Foundation collaborated with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in hosting 12 workshops focused on implementation of Guidance #209 and #213, as well as the revised Veterinary Feed Directive rule. The sessions were targeted to producers, veterinarians and feed suppliers. Many attendees acknowledged the importance of being able to communicate directly with the representatives of FDA and USDA who attended each session. Those workshop discussions were summarized in the 2016 report, Stewardship of medically-important antimicrobial drug use in  food animals.

In 2022, Farm Foundation worked with industry partners to spread the work on the enactment of FDA’s revised recommendations on antibiotic use in farm animals. Outputs included a Farm Foundation Forum and an informational flyer.