Article

Farmers Disagree on Antibiotic Use

December 30, 2010

Publication: KOMU-TV8, Missouri

Author: Nina Moini

Cattle farmer Jay Schutte said most dairy farmers are already administering antibiotics responsibly. Schutte feeds out about 600 cattle a year.

"We do use blanket antibiotics when animals are young and are exposed to a lot of germs and a new environment," Schutte said.

Schutte said most of the antibiotics he gives his cattle are not of a family of antibiotics humans need. This means his cattle could not lead to antibiotic resistance that could harm humans.

Antibiotic resistance occurs when farmers or veterinarians administer too much of certain antibiotics into an animal's system. Eventually, the bacteria the antibiotics were meant to fight off become stronger and resistant to the antibiotics. The FDA worries antibiotics in some food animals remain in the food that humans consume and lead to antibiotic resistance in humans as well. This led to FDA creating new recommendations for antibiotic use in food animals. The new guidelines recommend antibiotics only be administered under the supervision of a veterinarian and when an animal's life is in danger.

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Read the full article and watch the video Farmers Disagree on Antibiotic Use on KOMU-TV8 Web site.