One of the largest U.S. meat packers, privately owned Cargill, said it will reduce by 20 percent its use of “shared class” antibiotics on slaughter cattle in the four feed yards that it owns in the Great Plains and in four additional lots operated by a business partner, Friona Industries. “The total number of cattle involved annually is approximately 1.2 million,” said the company. “This move comes after Cargill evaluated both existing third party research and research previously conducted by the company regarding reduced antibiotic use, and evaluated customer and consumer input. For the beef cattle covered by this announcement, Cargill does not use any antibiotics for growth promotion that are medically important for human health.”
Cargill’s announcement appeared to dovetail with the ongoing three-year FDA phase-out of medically important antimicrobials in sub-therapeutic doses to speed weight gain by cattle, hogs and poultry. FDA began the phase-down at the end of 2013 as part of government-wide efforts to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for treating human illness. Livestock account for the majority of antibiotic use in the United States.
John Keating, president of Cargill’s beef business, said, “Scientific research and yet-to-be-discovered innovative technologies could certainly help us further reduce, or eliminate, the need for antibiotics in the beef supply chain.” Cargill said it was “collaborating with cattle ranchers, researchers, universities and allied partners to identify production practices and viable alternatives that could result in further reduction in the use of medicines for food animal production. Research projects are underway with the focus on topics ranging from nutrition to feeding practices.”