Why do Irish pig farmers use medications? Barriers for effective reduction of antimicrobials in Irish pig production

Abstract

Background In addressing the threat of antimicrobial resistance, it is critical to understand the barriers to the uptake of strategies for the reduction of antimicrobial use (AMU) in the pig industry. In several EU countries, factors such as education level, habits and social pressures are recognised as affecting farmers’ decision-making process in relation to AMU. However, there is a lack of information on the Irish scenario. The aim of this study was to investigate pig farmers’ perspectives and their behaviour towards AMU to identify potential barriers to effectively reduce AMU in Irish pig production. We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 30 pig farmers, 5 pig veterinarians and 4 focus groups of pig farm personnel. We employed qualitative analyses to explore the objective of the study. Results Qualitative analysis revealed six convergent themes as potential barriers: perceptions about the need for AMU on farm, concept of animal welfare and associated management practices, legislation, culture, economics and standards of communication/type of advice-network. Overall, pig farmers believed that there is poor communication between stakeholders (i.e. farmers, vets and advisors) and a lack of reliable people to approach for advice. They considered themselves as operating responsibly in terms of AMU compared to their national and international colleagues and expressed the importance of a so-called ‘Irish solution’ to the problem of AMU because it was associated with what ‘has always been done’ and was therefore considered reliable and safe. Conclusions Barriers and challenges were in line with those identified in other EU countries highlighting similarities in behavioural and attitudinal patterns among pig farmers. Overall, farmers appeared to be more likely to rely on previous experiences or to wait for an imposed change (e.g. legislation) instead of taking personal action. Thus, considerable behavioural and attitudinal changes are needed to adopt a more responsible AMU in Irish pig production and to develop effective intervention strategies.

Risk Factors for Antimicrobial Use on Irish Pig Farms

“…Reducing the need for AMU is more challenging, however, requiring improvements in overall herd health. Irish farmers previously identified economic concerns over international competition and cost effectiveness of alternatives to AMU as barriers to reducing in-feed medication [40], and there were similar findings amongst British farmers, where high investment costs and staffing difficulties were cited as barriers [30]. Nevertheless, this challenge has been met in other countries [90,91] and can be achieved without impacting performance or profit [92][93][94].…”

“…Finally, socio-economic and demographic factors such as age, gender, education or years of experience [36] and attitudes to AMR [37] can influence on farm AMU, although their relative importance appears to differ depending on nationality [17]. In general, pig farmers perceive AMs as an effective and cost-efficient tool in disease management [30,[38][39][40] and, at least in the past, were poorly aware or unconcerned about the risks of AMR [38,39,41].…”

The potential ecological risk of veterinary pharmaceuticals from swine wastewater on freshwater aquatic environment

“…Commercial pig farms account for about 74% of intensive administration of pharmaceutical compounds due to their beneficial effects on growth rate and feed conversion efficiency and for the prevention and treatment of disease, which has thus become a concern and potential risk (Diana et al, 2021 ). Studies have shown the increased presence of veterinary pharmaceuticals in different environmental compartments (Obimakinde et al, 2016 ) where these substances are found either as parent materials or as a range of transformed products in the aquatic environment (Hu & Cheng, 2016 ).…”

How does transaction governance in the animal supply chain influence antibiotic use? A study of the French young bull sector

“…Antibiotic efficiency in the young bull sector is decreasing due to the general overuse of antibiotics. This phenomenon is extensive and of growing concern worldwide, with similar problems arising in other countries (Diana et al, 2021; Laxminarayan et al, 2013; OECD, 2015; Sneeringer et al, 2020).…”