Food & Agriculture

Consumer, Veterinary, and Public Health Groups’ Comments on Proposal to Collect On-Farm Antibiotic Use Data

In response to a proposal by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) to collect antimicrobial use data from beef and pork producers, CFA and its allies ask the agency to act expeditiously to secure quantitative, comprehensive, and up-to-date data on antibiotic use, with a goal of identifying ways to reduce on-farm use. Currently, no such data exists and information collection must rely on voluntary participation from industry. Antibiotic sales data indicate that food animals consume 70 percent of total medically important antibiotics by volume. The APHIS data proposal would build on the National Animal Health Monitoring Service (NAHMS) survey program.