WATT PoultryUSA - November 2016 - 26
26 ❙ WATTPoultryUSA Responsible use in poultry rather than antibiotic-free Dr. Peter Spring, of the Bern University of Applied Sciences, said striving for responsible antibiotic use may be a better strategy than going 100 percent antibiotic-free. BY AUSTIN ALONZO With its decade-old ban on growth-promoting antibiotics, the European experience may provide some insights for American poultry producers ahead of the imposition of the United States' own rule changes on antibiotic use. Dr. Peter Spring, head of Bern University of Applied Sciences' Centre for Food Systems in Bern, Switzerland, shared the European perspective on antibiotics in broiler production during the Poultry Science Association's annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, in July. Spring offered three key takeaways for U.S. farmers: There will be a learning curve removing growthpromoting antibiotics but it is surmountable; good antibiotic use and resistance monitoring treatment must be put in place to see how reducing antibiotic use affects antimicrobial resistance; and producers should avoid splitting their product lines between antibiotic-free and treated birds, but rather focus on the concept of responsible antibiotic use. Responsible antibiotic use Spring said he does not like the term antibioticfree and instead prefers that producers strive to be responsible users of antibiotics. In Europe, it's clear that antibiotic-growth promoters are not coming back, but antibiotics still play a role in animal health and sustainable farming. In Europe, he said, producers don't go 100 percent antibiotic-free. Instead, they try to use the least amount of antibiotics possible in production. While American producers have already responded to demand for antibiotic-free products by splitting their production lines between antibiotic-free and conventionally raised birds, European producers do not do this because, if a product is marketed as antibiotic-free, the producer may have a hard time finding a way to make use of the birds that are treated. Producing those birds without a way to make use of them would be immoral, he said, and U.S. producers might find themselves in trouble in the future if the market for treated birds continues to shrink. ANIMAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS WILL continue to be pushed to minimize antibiotic treatments. www.WATTAgNet.com ❙ November 2016
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