ANTIBIOTIC REDUCTION IN GERMAN PIG INDUSTRY.

The German animal husbandry sector has reduced the use of antibiotics in production by using strategic methods to minimize the use. The level of reduction was identified by cooating of data from veterinarians who recorded when antibiotics were administered and the length of time the treatment lapsed. The German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) reported the decline in the use of antibiotics. This office is reporting the total usage in animal husbandry, in combination with the frequency of treatments,every 6 months and new frequency figures become available. The new figures became available for the last 6 months of 2015 and highlighted the following ; 2 benchmark figures emerged; first of all, a treatment frequency goal, which is being met by 75% of all pig farms. Piglets up to 30 kg were treated on average 13.57 times – a reduction of over 7 treatments in comparison to the first 6 months of 2015. In finisher production, the frequency dropped from 6.5 to 4.6 times. The broiler and turkey production sector showed similar trends; Broilers were given antibiotics on average over 22 times, compared to 27 times in the first 6 months of 2015. In turkeys, the frequency dropped from over 40 to over 32. The other benchmark figure is a frequency goal which is met by 50% of all farms. Here also the development is positive over all animal species. The German Farmers' Association (DBV) said the frequency figure is being calculated on the basis of vets, who need to report every 6 months how many animals they been treated with antibiotics. In addition, they are required to report how long these treatments took and also the types of antibiotics need to be recorded, but these are not expressed in the final figures. For all data, a central reporting office has been set up. The BVL multiplies the number of treated animals with the number of treatment days and divides the result by the average amount of animals on these farms in these 6 months. Individual farms that exceed the benchmark of 50%, are requested to contact their veterinarians to discuss how to lower their usage. Despite question marks about the accuracy of these figures, it looks like the sector has eventually managed to reduce antibiotic consumption. It remains to be seen how much lower this can get. materials from pig progress.