Antibiotic free meat ... worth a watch

[Henery]

Food for thought.....We should be marketing beef and lamb as vastly reduced AB use compared with other more “affordable “ meat options. A lot of beef and lamb would already qualify. AHDB.... ? How about it ? .... oh yes , mustn’t rock the boat for Pork and chicken factories......

 

[averageguy54]

In my opinion this shows the kind of things farmers are going to have to start looking at for the future. So better to get looking while it is still optional and finding ways to make it workable.

 

[ollandroverman]

Most beef and lamb in this country will never see antibiotics. It's just the marketing it as such that is the problem

 

[Sid]

In my opinion this shows the kind of things farmers are going to have to start looking at for the future. So better to get looking while it is still optional and finding ways to make it workable.

Start?
Shall we start @kill @jondear

 

[Full of bull(s)]

Most beef and lamb in this country will never see antibiotics. It's just the marketing it as such that is the problem

It shouldn’t be, pigs are already and they don’t have individual id tags or medicine records. Surely all the paperwork and individual identification must to be able to be actually put to some use especially seeing as though we are having another layer in the form of compulsory EID foisted upon us?

 

[Bury the Trash]

Start?
Shall we start @kill @jondear

you know what he means, .

 

[Danllan]

Very good idea for a thread. Setting aside the obvious medical & veterinary benefits of using less antibiotics, that being enlightened public and self-interest... this should be a big selling point for our extensively farmed stock. It's far less than in many countries and the longer it goes on and more widely spread it is, the stronger and healthier the national herd / flock become. All good selling points.

 

[Sid]

you know what he means, .

Problem is some people have issues at lambing and treat every thing at birth.
Therefore it's a no go before it starts.

Very good idea for a thread. Setting aside the obvious medical & veterinary benefits of using less antibiotics, that being enlightened public and self-interest... this should be a big selling point for our extensively farmed stock. It's far less than in many countries and the longer it goes on and more widely spread it is, the stronger and healthier the national herd / flock become. All good selling points.

As per the Scandinavian dairy industry.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Problem is some people have issues at lambing and treat every thing at birth.
Therefore it's a no go before it starts.

They need to start looking more at treating the cause rather than the symptoms then dont they, which is what this threads about. Not organic farmers who are already wonderfully intune with the natural world ,

 

[Danllan]

...As per the Scandinavian dairy industry.

Possibly, I don't know, please explain.

 

[Sid]

Possibly, I don't know, please explain.

Scandinavian farmers have had to have a vet out to use antibiotics.
Therefore farmer, to avoid cost, have been selective on health traits.
This has lead to the Scandinavian breeds being known as health positive.
Swedish red is one breed that has been pushed heavily as cross breeding but actually the Swedish holstein is the same, but hasnt got that marketing point of difference. It's not about the breed but the selection process over the years.
The UK have been breeding for volume and profit, not health traits and cost saving but the tide has turned

 

[Danllan]

Scandinavian farmers have had to have a vet out to use antibiotics.
Therefore farmer, to avoid cost, have been selective on health traits.
This has lead to the Scandinavian breeds being known as health positive.
Swedish red is one breed that has been pushed heavily as cross breeding but actually the Swedish holstein is the same, but hasnt got that marketing point of difference. It's not about the breed but the selection process over the years.
The UK have been breeding for volume and profit, not health traits and cost saving but the tide has turned

Ahhh…. the shorthand for all that could be 'Easycare Cattle'. There is an ethical aspect to this too, but it seems to me, as I wrote above, to be just enlightened self interest for us to be culling on that basis.

There is a clear opening in the market for this, @Tim W, @Johngee and co. do you think you'll diversify?

 

[Sid]

Ahhh…. the shorthand for all that could be 'Easycare Cattle'. There is an ethical aspect to this too, but it seems to me, as I wrote above, to be just enlightened self interest for us to be culling on that basis.

There is a clear opening in the market for this, @Tim W, @Johngee and co. do you think you'll diversify?

UK dairy has already reduced AB usage dramatically but it's that last %
You will never not use any and neither should you.

 

[Danllan]

UK dairy has already reduced AB usage dramatically but it's that last %
You will never not use any and neither should you.

I've not any family in dairy now and those I know around here would fit with what you've written - I think - but... one does hear of over-use, and from some pretty reliable sources too.

As for your last line, couldn't agree more; my feeling is that on the whole this a generational thing, and AB use will continue to fall.

On that tack, we discussed the compulsory administration of ABs by a vet in another thread some time ago; having chatted with friends and family who are vets and stock-keepers, I'm minded now that compulsory approval by a vet is the best option; there being retrospective approval for 'emergency' treatment too. I wouldn't use ABs willy-nilly and I'm sure others wouldn't either, so it's a workable thing, it would definitely help reduce AB use and it would be two less weapons for the vegan-types, i.e. lower farm AB use and, in theory, less farmer-decision making about veterinary treatment.

 

[Tim W]

There is a local man that sells AB free lamb with some success (i think)
Create the market/need and get your sales wagon moving !

On an industry scale this is why good data collection for medicine use is so important
You need data so you can
1) benchmark and show that you (as an industry) are improving
2) show how low UK usage is compared to other countries---build the UK brand
3) promote red meat as a low input/hi welfare/good for the world food

As far as i remember UK AB use in sheep is the lowest in the EU
Potentially of interest http://beefandlamb.ahdb.org.uk/wp-c...p-AMU-Metric-document_version-1.0_17Jul19.pdf

and https://www.farmantibiotics.org/

 

[steveR]

I used to market my dexterbeef on this to my direct sale consumers. I was able to advise the customers (who were bothered) exactly what drugs any animal I sold to them had received. In most cases, One wormer at housing for 2nd Winter. If I was going to be pulling for the abbatoir, any animals lined up would not have a wormer.

I suspect most grass fed, extensive animals would in fact be the same...

Not FA.... ;-)

 

[averageguy54]

Perhaps start was the wrong word to use but in reality most of the public have no idea how their food is raised. All it would take is an animal crusader to show some video of a farmer treating his animals, accompanied with their usual hysteria, and you will be years recovering from the hit. A sort section of video showing a farmer giving a down cow, after calving, a bottle or two of calcium to bring her around, perfectly normal and no harm done, but an activist could have a field day with that.
The best way to counter that is education and trying to find ways to lessen the occurance of situations that require antibiotics. Perhaps a study of the carbon foot print of feedlot beef versus grass fed beef, that should include the carbon expended in raising the grain, corn , etc used in the feedlot. Does that excede the extra cow farts on grass fed beef? Let the results be known and work within them as necessary. These kind of things need to be part of your focus going into the future. If you don't lead, you'll have to follow.

 

[neilo]

There is a local man that sells AB free lamb with some success (i think)
Create the market/need and get your sales wagon moving !

On an industry scale this is why good data collection for medicine use is so important
You need data so you can
1) benchmark and show that you (as an industry) are improving
2) show how low UK usage is compared to other countries---build the UK brand
3) promote red meat as a low input/hi welfare/good for the world food

As far as i remember UK AB use in sheep is the lowest in the EU
Potentially of interest http://beefandlamb.ahdb.org.uk/wp-c...p-AMU-Metric-document_version-1.0_17Jul19.pdf

and https://www.farmantibiotics.org/

Of course, RT are collecting AB usage data across the red meat sector already, since the annual vet review became mandatory 2 years ago. Presumably that data can be used to show (if) AB usage across the industry is dropping.

Personally, my ab use is exactly the same as that of the organic sheep farmers I know. I only use antibiotics where there is a veterinary need, just as they do.

 

[milkloss]

Of course, RT are collecting AB usage data across the red meat sector already, since the annual vet review became mandatory 2 years ago. Presumably that data can be used to show (if) AB usage across the industry is dropping.

Personally, my ab use is exactly the same as that of the organic sheep farmers I know. I only use antibiotics where there is a veterinary need, just as they do.

This is what I don't understand, AB don't get used unless necessary In the beef and sheep industries. Are there any enterprises that still blanket use AB (I think prophylactic use is the correct term)?

 

[neilo]

This is what I don't understand, AB don't get used unless necessary In the beef and sheep industries. Are there any enterprises that still blanket use AB (I think prophylactic use is the correct term)?

To be fair, there are still plenty that blanket treat ewes with ab mid-pregnancy to prevent enzootic abortion, and/or give everything a Spectam dose or an ab jab in the lambing pens. Those practices are reducing though.