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.