USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), in collaboration with Farm Foundation, will hold a two-day workshop on the challenges to changing antibiotic use in food animal production and the associated economics, data and policy issues will be the focus of a workshop September 6-7, 2018 at the National Press Club, located at 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, D.C., according to an ERS press release.
In the last two years, private companies and producers have been considering when and how antibiotics are used to satisfy consumer demand for products from food animals that have been raised with few or no antibiotics, as well as to comply with the new rules the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has implemented regarding antibiotic use in food animal production.
This rapidly-changing landscape has also sparked discussion about how to incentive the development of new animal pharmaceutical products to which antibiotic resistance is less apt to develop. Often lacking in these discussions is information about the economic costs and benefits of such initiatives.
The workshop is targeted to academics, federal analysts, policy makers, non-profit representatives and industry stakeholders.
The September workshop will include presentations of new research on the economic aspects of changing antibiotic use on U.S. farms as well as information on collection of data on the sale and use of antibiotics in U.S. food animal production. Other topics to be addressed include:
- Changes in costs, practices and structure in the U.S. livestock sector and associated industries due to the recent FDA policy changes on antibiotic use in food animal production.
- Consumer demand for products raised without antbiotics and the associated price premiums.
- The challenges of supply U.S. beef raised with fewer antibiotics.
- The potential applicability to animal pharma of incentive mechanisms used in human pharma
- Analysis of ongoing efforts to collect data on antibiotic use in U.S. food animals production.
There is not charge to participate in this workshop; however, registration is required by the close of business on August 30, 2018. A 
tentative agenda is available.Registration can be completed HERE .
