Antibiotic use monitoring and benchmarking

Measuring and monitoring antibiotic use has proven very helpful for one dairy farmer in the UK as seen in this video Mastitis – Monitoring prudent use of Antibiotics  

As part of a major retailer producer pool, this farmer’s milk buyer collected and benchmarked farm antibiotic usage against other dairy farmers in order to drive progress and help farmers see where improvements could be made. This was against a backdrop of national antibiotic reduction targets set by the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance targets task force. This farm’s antibiotic use has been consistently below the national average and they completely eliminated the use of Critically Important Antibiotics as part of a farmer-led research project with the University of Bristol.  

The research project led by Dr Lisa Morgans encouraged farmers to learn from one another at regular farm workshops about practical ways they could improve animal health to reduce the need for antibiotics.  Medicine data was shared and each participant hosted their group twice on their farm for a farm walk and facilitated discussion. This helped farmers share knowledge and create practical solutions to improve animal health and welfare bespoke to their farms.