Antimicrobial use is a key selective force behind the emergence of resistant bacteria. Therefore, optimizing strategies for more efficacious and targeted antimicrobial use is an essential component of efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance. To bolster stewardship programmes in animal agriculture, processes are needed for the systematic collection of on‐farm antimicrobial use data. The objective of this study was to develop a system for collecting on‐farm antimicrobial use data from the US broiler industry and to have it be representative of the largest commercial broiler producers in the United States that comprise the vast majority of national broiler production. Participation was voluntary. Data were collected for the period 2013 through 2017 and are reported on a calendar year basis. Using statistics from USDA:NASS as a denominator, the data supplied by participating companies accounted for approximately 81.7% of broiler production in the United States in 2013 and increased to approximately 87.2% in 2017. The data that were submitted for 2017 are based on approximately 7,897,339,357 chicks placed, 7,541,449,430 chickens slaughtered and 48,225,124,865 pounds liveweight produced. The use of antimicrobials in the hatchery decreased substantially between 2013 and 2017; the approximate percentage of broiler chicks placed that received hatchery antimicrobials decreased from 93% in 2013 to 17% in 2017. Medically important in‐feed antimicrobial use decreased substantially. For example, in‐feed tetracycline use decreased approximately 95% between 2013 and 2017. Medically important water‐soluble antimicrobial use decreased substantially for most antimicrobials. Between 2013 and 2017, water‐soluble penicillin use decreased approximately 21%, water‐soluble tetracycline use decreased approximately 47%, and water‐soluble lincomycin use decreased approximately 28%. While a reduction in antimicrobial amounts used may be an important indicator of improved stewardship, reducing the need for antimicrobials through improved disease prevention should be considered a more important objective and a better indicator of overall flock health and optimal antimicrobial use.

Ensuring the safety, health, and overall well-being of animals raised for food is both an ethical obligation and a critical component of providing safe food products. The use of antibiotics for maintaining animal health has come under scrutiny in recent years due to the rise of antibiotic resistance globally. Some U.S. producers, especially in the poultry industry, have responded by eliminating their antibiotic use. The number of animals raised without antibiotics (RWA) is growing in the U.S., but there are concerns that RWA practices might negatively impact animal health and welfare. Therefore, the objective of this study was to survey U.S. veterinarians and producers about their experiences and opinions regarding RWA production. Veterinarians, farmers, ranchers, producers, and other stakeholders involved in raising broilers, turkeys, swine, beef cattle or dairy cattle were surveyed. Of the 565 completed responses received, 442 self-reported as practicing veterinarians or producers. Just over half of respondents reported having past or current experience with RWA programs. The main indicated reasons for raising animals without antibiotics were market driven; switching to RWA production was less commonly made for health-related reasons, such as to reduce antibiotic resistance or to improve animal health and welfare. Although respondents felt that RWA production has negative impacts on animal health and welfare, they overwhelmingly (>70%) indicated that the customer (retailer/restaurant/food service) believes that animal and health welfare will be significantly improved. Veterinarians and producers indicated that RWA programs will increase production costs with questionable effect on meat, egg or dairy consumer demand. Many respondents felt that there are times when the RWA label takes priority over animal health and welfare. Respondents generally felt that there was a need for increased auditing/assessment of animal health and welfare in RWA systems.

With increasing concern about the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria, there is an increasing motivation to optimize antimicrobial use administrations in animal agriculture. A key component of antimicrobial stewardship is the ability to collect antimicrobial use data and ultimately use this information to assess that administrations are necessary and effective. The objective of this study was to develop a system for collecting on‐farm antimicrobial use data from the US turkey industry and to have it be representative of the largest commercial turkey producers in the United States that comprise the vast majority of national turkey production. Participation was voluntary. Data were collected for the period 2013 through 2017 and are reported on a calendar year basis. Using statistics from USDA:NASS as a denominator, the data supplied by participating companies represented approximately 67.3% of turkey production in the United States in 2013 and increased to approximately 69.8% in 2017. The data that were submitted for 2017 are based on approximately 187,016,604 poults placed, 164,081,335 turkeys slaughtered, and 5,178,431,422 pounds liveweight produced. The estimated percentage of turkey poults placed that received hatchery antimicrobials decreased from 96% in 2013 to 41% in 2017. Medically important in‐feed antimicrobial use decreased substantially. For example, in‐feed tetracycline use decreased approximately 67% between 2013 and 2017. Medically important water‐soluble antimicrobial use decreased substantially for most antimicrobials. Between 2013 and 2017, water‐soluble penicillin use decreased approximately 42%, water‐soluble tetracycline use decreased approximately 28%, and water‐soluble lincomycin use decreased approximately 46%. Reducing the total amounts of antimicrobials used might be a crude indicator for mitigating the selection of antimicrobial resistance. Reducing the need for such use and verifying that treatment regimens deliver beneficial outcomes to animal health are more meaningful objectives.

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