Antimicrobial use practices and opinions of beef farmers in England and Wales

Abstract

BackgroundLimited research exists on antimicrobial use practices of beef farmers. This study aimed to investigate antimicrobial practices and perceptions of beef farmers in England and Wales, and identify drivers of higher antimicrobial use for treatment of bovine pneumonia.MethodsA survey was sent out in 2017 to beef farmers in England and Wales who supply to two abattoirs. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data. A logistic regression model was built to determine factors associated with treating greater than 5 per cent of the predominant group in the herd with antimicrobials for pneumonia.ResultsThere were a total of 171 useable responses. Most farmers reported using antimicrobials in less than 5 per cent of their herd for the treatment of common diseases. Most farmers (90 per cent) reported that they understood what antimicrobial resistance means, but only 55 per cent were aware of critically important antimicrobials and 9 per cent could name at least one critically important antimicrobial. Having a calf-rearing enterprise and not considering Johne’s disease when buying in cattle were associated with using antimicrobials to treat pneumonia in greater than 5 per cent of the predominant group in the herd.ConclusionSelf-reported antimicrobial use appears to be low in beef farms. However, some gaps in understanding aspects of antimicrobial stewardship by farmers were identified.

Antimicrobial use and resistance in Scottish dairy herds: A survey of farmers’ knowledge, behaviours and attitudes

“…Farmers' implementation of advice depends on several factors, such as the person delivering the recommendation [16]. Similar to previous studies [11,13,[17][18][19], this survey reveals that herd veterinarians are regarded as the most reliable source of information and the most in uencing social referent. Moreover, more frequent contact and discussion with the veterinarian about AMR were associated with positive outcomes, such as the likelihood of implementing medicine protocols on the farm.…”

“…However, in the scenarios section, we found similar results to Jones and co-workers: antibiotics were most frequently chosen as a treatment option in calf pneumonia, followed by clinical mastitis [11]. None of the respondents would have treated the calf diarrhoea with antibiotics, suggesting a much lower AMU for this condition than in UK beef calves [19]. The different ndings may be due to more extensive production in the beef sector, with less veterinarian contact and treatment protocols.…”

Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Escherichia coli Isolated from Sheep and Beef Farms in England and Wales: A Comparison of Disk Diffusion Interpretation Methods

“…This suggests that differences in antimicrobial resistance patterns are due to the variability in management of individual animals rather than any whole flock or herd management practices. The results probably reflect that antimicrobials are not usually used as routine prophylactic (preventative) treatments on sheep and beef farms in the UK, and in most cases farmers only use antimicrobials for the treatment of sick individual animals [3,36]. This is encouraging as there has been a large push in the UK agriculture industry to voluntarily reduce antimicrobial use over the last five years, particularly targeted at whole flock and herd treatments [36,37].…”

“…Farmers were contacted in order of preference until thirty-five farms were recruited. Preference was farms that had sheep and/or cattle numbers that were representative of the producer average based on previous survey data [3].…”

“…The administration of antimicrobials leads to the selection of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, and food-producing animals are one of several potential sources of antimicrobial resistance [1]. Although antimicrobial use is thought to be low in sheep and beef cattle [2,3], the large numbers of sheep and cattle in the UK may potentially contribute to the dissemination of antimicrobialresistant bacteria [4,5]. National surveillance of antimicrobial resistance from bacteria isolated from sheep and beef cattle only uses samples that are submitted for clinical diagnostics [6].…”