25.11.2015

The animal agriculture sector is a major user of antibiotic drugs for disease treatment, disease control, disease prevention, and growth promotion. Routine use of antibiotics, in humans or animals, can encourage antimicrobial resistance, which can lead to significant human and animal health risks. In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued final guidance on voluntarily phasing out the use of medically important antibiotics (those important for therapeutic use in humans) for livestock production purposes. This report addresses economic issues associated with the use of antibiotics in U.S. livestock agriculture.
Broilers: between 2006 and 2011, the share of broilers raised without antibiotics except for disease treatment rose from 44 to 48 percent. The percentage of birds removed from operations reporting they did not know whether their birds were raised without antibiotics except for disease treatment rose from 29 to 32 percent. The study modeled how restrictions in use of antibiotics for purposes other than disease treatment may affect market-level outcomes, including output and price.