Progress Made for Antibiotic Use in the UK Dairy Industry

Research shows that the UK dairy industry is making great progress in lowering antibiotic usage.

According to Kingshay’s Focus Report, just shy of 80% of herds met the objective set by RUMA (The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance) of 21 mg/kg PCU by March of last year. Each herd had varying outcomes, from 0.28 to 87.51 mg/kg PCU. In the same time frame, 2018 to 2021, there was a 98% decrease in use of vital antibiotics.

The report suggests that there needs to be an increase in the use of teat sealant for selective dry cow treatment. This is a crucial technique for moving away from prophylactic practices where each cow receives treatment, and on to using antimicrobials as and when they are needed.

Author of the research, Christina Ford, explained that “It provides a reliable summary of trends in antimicrobial use in dairy since 2018. We found that it’s not always the same herds in the highest 25% antimicrobial usage year-on-year, nor is it necessarily the same farms consistently using the lowest quantities. There is no correlation at all when looking at different herd characteristics such as yield, herd size, breed.”

Kingshay’s Senior clinical director, Tim Potter, added that “The teat sealant usage in 2021 was at 0.39 courses/cow, which was below the Ruma target of 0.7. Last year, 37% of herds were not using teat sealants at all, so there’s room for improvement. Appropriate training is essential, as improper use and poor hygiene protocols can result in bacteria being trapped inside the udder, having the opposite effect on cow health and productivity.”