Farmers worry new Health Canada regulations that require veterinary prescriptions for commonly used antimicrobials will affect the industry’s competitiveness. Why it matters: Resistance to antimicrobials continues to grow among diseases that harm humans. Limiting the amount of those antimicrobials used in animal agriculture has become a step to maintaining antimicrobials for human use. The use […] Read more
Tag Archives antibiotics — page 2
Kicking the antimicrobial habit
Farmers have already lost ability to use antimicrobials for growth enhancement; tighter purchasing restrictions are next
Battling hog barn bugs
Farmers dealing with tighter access to antimicrobials look to prevention versus treatment
Livestock farmers across Canada are bracing for extra costs as Health Canada moves to further lock down their access to antimicrobials, but Huron Country hog farmers Tara and Dennis Terpstra anticipate an easy transition. When their business arrangement changed in 2015, the Terpstras seized the opportunity to re-evaluate their herd management. The result was a […] Read more
Talk to family, friends about farming
This holiday season Melodie Chan wants producers to avoid what she calls the “spiral of silence,” which can happen around the dinner table, over beers or even in the gentle lull between turkey and pie if farmers don’t speak up when they hear misinformation about agriculture. “What are we afraid of?” asked Chan, speaking at […] Read more
Wendy’s to reduce antibiotic use in beef supply
Chicago | Reuters — Hamburger chain Wendy’s Co. laid out plans on Friday to trim the use of antibiotics that are important to human medicine from its beef supply, the latest step by a food company to fight concerns about resistance to the drugs in people. Starting in 2018, the company will buy about 15 […] Read more
Stop using antibiotics in healthy animals, WHO urges farmers
London | Reuters – The World Health Organization urged farmers on Tuesday to stop using antibiotics to promote growth and prevent disease in healthy animals because the practice fuels dangerous drug-resistant superbug infections in people. Describing a lack of effective antibiotics for humans as “a security threat” on a par with “a sudden and deadly […] Read more
McDonald’s to start cutting global antibiotic use in chickens
Los Angeles | Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. on Wednesday said that it would begin curbing the use of important human antibiotics in its global chicken supply in 2018, as the fast-food giant joins a broad effort to battle dangerous superbugs. McDonald’s is requiring suppliers of its broiler chickens to begin phasing out the use of […] Read more
Chicken farmers to expand phase-out of antibiotics
The national body for Canada’s chicken producers has set new targets to phase out preventive use of the antimicrobials deemed next-to-most important in human medicine. Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) on Tuesday announced that, following the “successful elimination” of Category I antibiotics for disease prevention in chickens, its antimicrobial use strategy will next focus on […] Read more
Tim Hortons parent updates antibiotic policy for chicken
The parent company for the Tim Hortons and Burger King chains has tightened up its pledge to curb the use of antibiotics by its chicken suppliers. Restaurant Brands International on Thursday released its first “Sustainability Report,” outlining its work during 2016 in support of “sustainable practices that promote positive change.” Back in late December, Oakville, […] Read more
KFC to curb antibiotic use in U.S. chickens it buys
Los Angeles | Reuters — Yum Brands’ U.S. KFC chain plans to curb the use of antibiotics in its chicken supply, making it the last of the big three chicken restaurants to join the fight against the rise of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as superbugs. KFC, the second-biggest U.S. chicken chain by sales after privately […] Read more
Tyson accelerates shift away from antibiotics in chicken
Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods in June will switch its retail line of company-branded chicken products to birds raised without any antibiotics, a top executive said on Tuesday, accelerating the meat sector’s shift away from the drugs. The change will make Tyson, which is the largest U.S. chicken processor, into the world’s leading producer […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
