Growing Forward 2 - Final Report | Page 34

CURRENT SITUATION: CHALLENGES CVO Facilitated Discussion participants felt that the availability of antibiotics without a prescription, OTC antibiotics, OUI, the lack of available labeled drugs in many circumstances and the discontinuation of the mandatory livestock medicines education program for producers has led to uncontrolled and uneducated antibiotic use on farms. There is considerable antibiotic use on farms with no veterinary involvement. While farmers expect to receive antibiotics from the veterinarian, there is a lack of a good understanding of the requirements for a VCPR and the value of a veterinarian. Other challenges included the lack of affordable, suitable, tested and proven alternatives to antibiotics, including vaccines. As well, there are no new and effective antibiotics being developed. While a reduction in antibiotic use is possible, it would be very time and resource intensive. Further, veterinarians felt that there is a lack of objective scientific information linking antibiotic