This reminds me of a speech given by the head of Sanderson Farms a few years ago, during an industry-wide conversation about the merits of antibiotic-free farming. It stood out for me because it is rare for CEOs to take a public stance against a popular cause in this way.
Much has been written and discussed in recent weeks regarding the production and use of antibiotic-free chicken. In response to the announcement by several large users of chicken that they will move to antibiotic-free chicken over time, several processors in our industry have responded that they, too, will move to the production of antibiotic-free products.
After very deliberate, careful. And measured consideration of this issue, we informed our customers last week that we will continue our responsible use of antibiotics when prescribed by our veterinarians. This decision is based on animal welfare, environmental considerations. And food safety. First, we believe we have a moral obligation to care for the animals under our stewardship. Just as our vets do not compromise there oath to relieve the suffering of animals, our obligation to care for the animals under our care is not subject to compromise.
It is instructive to us that this discussion has revolved primarily around chickens. And no one, to our knowledge, has suggested that other species be denied care and medicine. It seems to us that if an animal is sick and its suffering would be relieved from the use of FDA-approved antibiotics, it does not matter if it is a chicken, cow, hog, or household pet. That animal should be treated.
We also have a commitment to environmental stewardship. Sick chickens do not perform well. When a chicken gets sick, it takes longer to reach market weight. It takes more feed to produce a pound of meat and it just performs poorly. Because its performance decreases, it takes more water, more feed, electricity, natural gas. And other resources to raise the bird. More feed means more acres, more water. And more fertilizer to grow grain. Given the number of animals on the ground in the United States for food production, even small changes in the performance of those animals could have a significant negative environmental impact. Simply stated, neglecting the health of our chickens is inconsistent with our environmental sustainability goals and our commitment to the judicious use of water and other natural resources.
Finally, healthy chickens are safe chickens. In our judgment and based on the experience in Europe, unhealthy chickens are more likely to carry higher loads of Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli. Our Company and our industry have made great strides in recent years to reduce these bacteria. And that work is in jeopardy if we neglect bird health.
Like everyone else, we understand the anxiety created by fear of antibiotic resistance caused by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. We also are aware that there has been no credible scientific evidence that supports the notion that antibiotic resistance in humans is made more likely because of the use of antibiotics in chickens. Indeed, because of withdrawal periods mandated by the FDA, there are no antibiotic residues in chicken meat marketed in the United States. And in that sense, all chicken is antibiotic-free.
We will continue to work with our pharmaceutical suppliers to find alternatives to antibiotics important in human health. And we are committed to using alternatives when they become available. But until such alternatives are developed, we will treat the animals under our care as needed with antibiotics approved for use in chickens by the FDA.
(note this is a third-party transcript so may contain errors and differ from the actual speech in some ways)
Arguments like these are some of the reasons why I am less optimistic about total bans, rather than bans on subtherapeutic and growth promotion use of antibiotics. If there aren’t good treatment alternatives available, then banning antibiotics outright would probably sometimes force producers to leave disease untreated, which seems like it would be really bad for animal welfare. I don’t know how often there are no good treatment alternatives, but I’d guess it’s some decent proportion of disease.
However, I do think the argument is a bit disingenuous. I can’t find the transcript of that speech on Google so I don’t know when it was made, but if it was before March 2019, Sanderson Farms was at that time using antibiotics not just to treat disease, but also to promote the growth of their chickens and prophylactically to prevent disease. Undoubtedly, using antibiotics in these ways has some non-negligable benefits to the chickens’ welfare and to their environmental impact (although I don’t know anything about the environmental impact of producing antibiotics!). But forgoing prophylactic and growth promoting antibiotic use would not force them to abandon their ‘obligation to care for the animals under [their] care’. Also, it doesn’t seem like people oppose using prescribed and targeted antibiotics, which is what the speaker was defending here. Both Tyson and Perdue sell antibiotics with the label ‘No Antibiotics Ever’, but Perdue reassures us in their FAQ:
“Of course, no matter how hard we try, some chickens will “catch something,” and we’ll never withhold appropriate treatment. Those chickens would not be labeled “no-antibiotics ever” and would be sold through different channels.”
I’m therefore somewhat confident that even when producers do sell meat which is labelled ‘No Antibiotics Ever’ they still treat sick animals where antibiotics are the best treatment option. There is a strong economic incentive for them to do so, since mortality, slower growth rates, and worse feed conversion ratios are expensive.
But of course, if any country were to totally ban antibiotics, they wouldn’t be able to do this (I suppose it’s possible they could export the animals needing treatment internationally, but this seems pretty unlikely).
So, for a total ban to be net positive in my opinion, I would have to see strong evidence that a) welfare reforms were widely adopted and b) welfare reforms were effective at preventing disease, or c) antibiotic substitutes were equally effective at treating and/or preventing disease. I think this is a pretty high bar which isn’t very likely to be met, so I would only be in favour of a ban on subtherapeutic/prophylactic and growth promoting use.
This reminds me of a speech given by the head of Sanderson Farms a few years ago, during an industry-wide conversation about the merits of antibiotic-free farming. It stood out for me because it is rare for CEOs to take a public stance against a popular cause in this way.
(note this is a third-party transcript so may contain errors and differ from the actual speech in some ways)
Arguments like these are some of the reasons why I am less optimistic about total bans, rather than bans on subtherapeutic and growth promotion use of antibiotics. If there aren’t good treatment alternatives available, then banning antibiotics outright would probably sometimes force producers to leave disease untreated, which seems like it would be really bad for animal welfare. I don’t know how often there are no good treatment alternatives, but I’d guess it’s some decent proportion of disease.
However, I do think the argument is a bit disingenuous. I can’t find the transcript of that speech on Google so I don’t know when it was made, but if it was before March 2019, Sanderson Farms was at that time using antibiotics not just to treat disease, but also to promote the growth of their chickens and prophylactically to prevent disease. Undoubtedly, using antibiotics in these ways has some non-negligable benefits to the chickens’ welfare and to their environmental impact (although I don’t know anything about the environmental impact of producing antibiotics!). But forgoing prophylactic and growth promoting antibiotic use would not force them to abandon their ‘obligation to care for the animals under [their] care’. Also, it doesn’t seem like people oppose using prescribed and targeted antibiotics, which is what the speaker was defending here. Both Tyson and Perdue sell antibiotics with the label ‘No Antibiotics Ever’, but Perdue reassures us in their FAQ:
I’m therefore somewhat confident that even when producers do sell meat which is labelled ‘No Antibiotics Ever’ they still treat sick animals where antibiotics are the best treatment option. There is a strong economic incentive for them to do so, since mortality, slower growth rates, and worse feed conversion ratios are expensive.
But of course, if any country were to totally ban antibiotics, they wouldn’t be able to do this (I suppose it’s possible they could export the animals needing treatment internationally, but this seems pretty unlikely).
So, for a total ban to be net positive in my opinion, I would have to see strong evidence that a) welfare reforms were widely adopted and b) welfare reforms were effective at preventing disease, or c) antibiotic substitutes were equally effective at treating and/or preventing disease. I think this is a pretty high bar which isn’t very likely to be met, so I would only be in favour of a ban on subtherapeutic/prophylactic and growth promoting use.