Pork Board Ready to Lead VFD Conversation
On Jan. 1, 2017, the Veterinary Feed Directive rule will go into place. The National Pork Board says it will be ready to lead the conversation on antibiotic resistance.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule in an effort to combat resistance.
The VFD ends the use of certain antibiotics for growth promotion in livestock. The rule will also require farmers to get veterinarian permission to use medicines to ensure animal health.
Back in 2015, Pork Checkoff issued a three-point strategy, and now, it says it has continued research and its consumer education campaign.
“We’ve been talking with producers, and when I’m talking with them, I get a number that come up to me and say, ‘We’ve already made those changes,’” said Dave Pyburn, vice president of science and technology of the National Pork Board. “We know what’s coming with changes FDA is asking for. We’ve already removed those human medically important antibiotics as growth hormones. We’ve already figured out how to have production without those antibiotics in place.”
NPB named a third-party panel of non-farm experts to provide independent advice to the board on research and education.
