Challenges to changing antibiotic use in food animal production, and the associated economics, data and policy issues, were the focus of a workshop September 6-7 at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. A collaboration of Farm Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS), the workshop drew more than 100 academics, federal analysts, policy makers, non-profit representatives and industry stakeholders.
In the last two years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has implemented new restrictions on how antibiotics can be used in livestock production. At the same time, private companies and producers have been carefully considering when and how antibiotics are used in order to comply with these restrictions, and satisfy consumer demand for product raised with few or no antibiotics.
This rapidly-changing landscape has sparked discussion about how to incentivize the development of new animal pharmaceutical products to which antibiotic resistance is less apt to develop. Often lacking is information about the economic costs and benefits of such initiatives.
One challenge to such research is data collection on sales and use of antibiotics in food animal production. In order to make policy and management decisions, public and private decision makers can benefit from information on the volume of antibiotics used, the costs of reducing antibiotic use, and the demand for products produced with fewer antibiotics. Obstacles to data collection include confidentiality, costs and defining appropriate metrics.
The workshop included presentation 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 addressed include:
- Changes in costs, practices and structures in the U.S. livestock sector and associated industries due to recent FDA policy changes on antibiotic use in food animal production.
- Consumer demand for products raised without antibiotics, and associated price premiums.
- The challenges of supplying U.S. beef raised with fewer antibiotics.
- Potential applicability of incentive mechanisms used in human pharma to animal pharma.
- Description and analysis of ongoing efforts to collect data on antibiotic use in U.S. food animal production.
Presentations made at the workshop are provided here as speakers have made them available:
Session 1: Impacts of 2017 FDA Antibiotic Use Policies on Producers
VFD Implementation Impacted Pig Farmers, Veterinarians & Feed Providers: Perspectives and Lessons Learned, Lee Schultz, MS, PH.D., Iowa State University
Experiences of New York State Dairy Farms with VFD Implementation: Perspectives from Farmers and Industry Professionals, Kelsey O’Shea, Farm Business Management Specialist, North Country Regional Ag Team, Cornell University
Impact of the VFD Changes at the Farm Level, Phil Durst, Senior Extension Dairy Educator, Michigan State University
Core Stewardship Principles for VFD Medicated Feed, Mike Murphy, DVM, Office of the Director, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Session 2: Evaluating Producer Demand for Antibiotics
Managing Derived Demand for Antibiotics in Animal Agriculture, David Hennessy, Ph.D., Department of Agricultural, Food & Resource Economics, Michigan State University
Evaluating Animal Health Policies Using Livestock Production Data: Facts, Figures & Opportunities, Elliott Dennis, MS, MBA, Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University
Session 3: Collection of Data on Antibiotic Sales
Monitoring Antibiotic Use in the Swine Industry, Peter Davies, BVSc, Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Characterizing U.S. Animal Drug Consumption by Sales, Neal Bataller, ME, DVM, Director, Division of Surveillance, Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA
FDA’s Proposed Biomass Denominator Method, Susan Bright-Ponte, DVM, MPH, Diplomate ACVPM, Division of Surveillance, Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA
Session 4: Impacts of Veterinary Feed Directive Policies on Veterinarians
How the VFD Impacted Veterinarians’ Bottom Line, Gail R. Hansen, DVM, MPH, Hansen Consultants
Impact of FDA Veterinary Feed Directive Policies on Practicing Veterinarians: Results of a Quantitative Survey, Cassidy Rist, DVM, MPH, Center for Public & Corporate Veterinary Medicine, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
Session 5: Developing New Animal Pharma Products
Applicability to Animal Pharma of Drug Research and Development Incentive Mechanisms Currently Used in Human Pharma, Stacy Sneeringer, Ph.D., Economic Research Service, USDA
Antibiotic Stewardship in Animal Agriculture, Karin Hoelzer, DVM, Ph.D., Pew Charitable Trusts
Session 6: Markets for Products Labeled as Raised With Fewer Antibiotics
Structural Challenges of Supplying U.S. Beef Raised with Fewer Antibiotics, Maria Bowman, Ph.D., Economic Research Service, USDA
Evaluation of Consumer Demand and Price Premiums for Poultry Products Raised Without Antibiotics, Elina Page, Ph.D., Economic Research Service, USDA
Price Premium & Welfare Losses of the ‘Natural’ Label: A Machine-Learning Application, Gianna Short, Ph.D. Candidate, Applied Economics, University of Minnesota
