Livestock Antibiotic Sustainability

Commodities

• Animals: bovine
• Animal Products: meat

Practices

• Animal Production: animal protection and health, therapeutics
• Education and Training: decision support system, workshop

Antibiotics are an important tool for livestock producers to manage herd health. Concerns about antibiotic resistance in humans and livestock continue to increase (ONeill, 2016).

We hypothesize that many beef cattle producers are not necessarily selecting the most efficacious treatment protocol for some common veterinary medical disease processes. This proposal will investigate if livestock producers are selecting effective antibiotics to target specific pathogens. We propose that producer education can promote better outcomes in clinical cases by promoting judicious use of antibiotics which in turn will foster antibiotic sustainability. 

Our project begins by surveying livestock producers and veterinary clinics to research current practices regarding antibiotic use on Montana ranches. The survey will be mixed-mode (online and paper-based). Survey responses will be analyzed and used to create a decision matrix for the top 5 conditions producers treat. This information will be utilized in the following years of the project to lead educational sessions throughout the state. Our project’s expected outcome is to educate livestock producers to more specifically target pathogens with the appropriate antibiotic therapy. We believe that using the most appropriate therapy will reduce the overall amount of antibiotics being used. This will help reduce antimicrobial resistance in the animals being treated which has many positive consequences including improved animal health and public health (Bengtsson, 2014).

We plan to cooperate with state
and local producer groups across the state including local affiliates of the Montana Stockgrowers Association and Montana Farm Bureau Federation to disseminate this information at in-person workshops. We will submit articles to producer publications and to state and local organizations for their newsletters. We will work with the Montana Veterinary Medical Association to distribute the results to veterinarians. Montana State University Extension agents will also be critical partners, particularly in the educational portion of the project. 

We expect to present this information at at least 20 workshops across the state. We plan to publish articles in 10 producer magazines or newsletters. We will cooperate with other groups such as Cattleman U, Western Sustainability Exchange, Northern Ag Network, and Western Ag Network to reach producers online and on the radio.

Research Objectives:

Our overall research objective is
to determine what antibiotics are most commonly used in Montana
and what diseases are commonly treated. Then we will review
published scientific literature for these diseases to create a
decision matrix to guide more effective treatment
strategies. 

Specific research objectives:

1. Survey 10,000 livestock producers and 1000 veterinarians  in Montana to determine current practices concerning antibiotic use by written and online questionnaires. Our goal is at least a 5% response rate by August 2024. 
2. Analyze survey responses to determine trends and statistical probabilities. 
3. Compare and contrast survey responses to best practices. Develop best treatment practice recommendations for the top 5 veterinary medical problems based on survey results of conditions being treated, antibiotics commonly used, and scientific literature reviews. Create a decision matrix for each of the top 5 veterinary medical problems identified.

Education objectives:

1. Design educational curriculum and a handout based on results of our research objectives (survey responses and decision matrix). 
2. Present to livestock producers at a minimum of 20 producer groups community presentations.
3. Create and submit articles for producer publications based on survey results and educational curriculum.
4. Create content for social media posts and blogs. Collaborate with other organizations to disseminate the information on their established webinars, podcasts, and radio shows.
5. Present research results at the Montana Veterinary Medical Association state meeting and publish a scientific journal article.