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BY TYLER DIFLEY
THE
FARMGATE
HEALTH CANADA’S VETERINARY
Drugs Directorate recently announced it
is moving to end the use of antibiotics in
food animals for growth promotion.
The move comes amid mounting fears in
the international community that excessive
antibiotic use in livestock could breed dead-
ly, drug-resistant infections in humans.
In collaboration with the Canadian Ani-
mal Health Institute, Health Canada plans
to remove all growth-promotion claims
from “medically-important antimicrobial
drugs.” In other words, animal drugs that
are similar to or exactly the same as those
used in humans. It also hopes to find ways
to strengthen veterinary oversight of anti-
biotics used in food animals.
However, most antibiotics used in live-
stock feed are for disease prevention and
this use will continue to be permitted.
According to Alberta’s chief provincial
veterinarian, Gerald Hauer, the change is
a good first step, but more work needs to
be done to address the issue of antimicro-
bial resistance.
“Antimicrobial resistance is a complex
issue,” he said. “Will this one step solve the
problem? No, it won’t, but it is a step in the
right direction and it’s part of the puzzle.”
Currently, there is no tracking mecha-
nism in place for the use of antibiotics in
livestock, Hauer said, but some members
of the livestock industry have done their
own research. In some cases, this has led
commodity groups to impose their own
restrictions on drug use. For example, the
Chicken Farmers of Canada prohibited its
members from injecting eggs with Ceftio-
HEALTHCANADA
MOVESTOCURB
ANTIBIOTICUSE IN
LIVESTOCK
fur, an antibiotic linked to drug-resistant
infections in humans.
If progress is to be made, Hauer said, it
is important that livestock producers are
aware of the risks involved.
“The key is that they understand the is-
sue and they understand the implications
of the antibiotics they’re using,” he said.
“It’s also hugely important that we have
the di erent stakeholders—so animal
owners, government, industry players, the
veterinary profession—all working togeth-
er to ensure that people do understand the
issue and do take the right steps to make
sure the antibiotics are used wisely.”
DON’T FORGET
ABOUT
FORAGES
WITH THE PRICES FOR OILSEEDS,
cereals and other annual crops steadily
rising in recent years, planted acres of these
crops have also increased. However, in
some cases, these gains have come at the
expense of another valuable and often-over-
looked agricultural product: forages.
“Forage crops are the backbone of our
ruminant livestock industry, as well as our
horse industry, and certainly some of our
exports industry to other countries,” said
Grant Lastiwka, a livestock and forage
business specialist with Alberta Agricul-
ture and Rural Development (AARD).
“They are a very versatile and diverse crop
that is crucial to the agriculture industry.”
Forage is a term that encompasses a
variety of di erent seeded and native
plants that are grown for grazing or to be
harvested as a whole crop for feed. Gen-
erally, forages are perennials that grow
every spring, including alfalfa, clover,
fescue and native grasses, but the term
also covers annual fodder crops grown for
hay and silage.
Forage crops cover more acreage than
any other agricultural crop in Canada. In
Alberta, AARD estimates the direct eco-
nomic value created by forages is roughly
$1.6 billion annually. It also estimates
that forages in the province create $500
million to $2.2 billion of indirect value
through erosion control, water regulation,
wildlife habitat, recreation, pollination
and carbon sequestration.
According to Lastiwka, unless people
start recognizing the forage industry’s
value, national forage acres will continue
to decline.
“One of the things, I think, is simply
to make sure it’s understood better,” he
said. “We don’t want to lose the ability to
function as a world-class forage nation,
and that is a concern if we don’t realize
the value there.”
Fall
2014
Grains
West
10