What is a VFD?

As I have discussed in previous posts, (here, here, and here) antibiotics are one of the tools that farmers use to keep their animals healthy by treating and preventing disease.  They can be very expensive, but it is worth it to use them, and to have them available in order to care for the animals.
New in January 2017, farmers must follow a new regulation put in place to monitor the use of certain feed antibiotics called the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD).  The VFDs basically act as prescriptions in order to feed certain antibiotics.  The antibiotics affected are those that are medically important in human medicine.  As with any new program, there is confusion on how it will work, and what adjustments need to be made to current programs.

(sows waiting for dinner)

While nobody likes to get new paperwork and regulations, the VFDs are actually a paper record of things we are doing already.  They verify that we are consulting our vet before feeding antibiotics (we are).  They are reviewed/renewed every 6 months to make sure that we are still on track with our herd health (we do this already).  They make us pause to look at our medication program and truly evaluate it (again, already in place).  With the VFD, we are also showing transparency and accountability in a way that is consistent and traceable. At minimum, the vet, the farmer, the feed mill, and the feed distributor are all aware of the program and are checking to make sure the medication program is followed accurately.   All of these things are positive for farmers, the animals, and consumers.

Of course there are many unknowns.  We aren't sure how often we will be audited, or what the exact audit requirements will be.  Feed mills need to figure out if they are part of the farm, or a "feed distributor," which sounds simple, but actually isn't clear.  Being one or the other, the mills fall under a different set of responsibilities when in comes to record keeping and distribution.  There also are questions on whether custom specialty feeds (for example, pellets made for newly weaned pigs) will be allowed to have any antibiotics added to them.  This may not sound like a big deal, but newly weaned piglets are the most susceptible population to bugs of all kinds (similar to toddlers in day-care).  Hopefully there will be answers to these questions in coming months.

Even antibiotics that are not medically important are being reevaluated in production systems. These antibiotics mainly fall under the category of "growth promoters."  This is something that looks and sounds scary, but it is often recommended by vets to help with overall animal health. Growth promoters are fed at a super low level (read less than 30 grams per ton- 2,000 lbs.- of complete feed) to stimulate gut health in the pigs.  A healthy gut helps with nutrient absorption and boosts the immune system.  It's hard to measure but research suggests that they do help keep the herd at a better immune status, which usually means that animals do reach market size faster.  For more information on antibiotics on feed, please please follow any one of the links I provided at the top of this post.

What is replacing antibiotics in feed?  There is research and development going into many things that will support immunity and increase overall health, and that is really exciting!  Yeast is now being used in some feeds to increase gut health, cutting drastically into the use of growth promoters.  Also probiotics and essential oil blends are having some positive therapeutic effects, with the potential to change treatments for many diseases.  These are the same things that you might find in your local health food store to improve your own immunity, and now we will have access to them for our animals.  Animals that get hit hard and have little or no immunity to new diseases will probably still need antibiotics, but diseases that have been present in the herd for awhile may no longer need antibiotics to keep them under control.  It is a good time for innovation in agriculture.  We are adding new tools to our toolbox, and honing the use of old ones to be more productive, socially conscious, and healthy.

Transparency, Activism, and Problem Solving

(On the farm- an 1830's barn, a hog house, and a new barn across the road)

Next week, I am going to speak at the Tri-State Sow Housing Conference.  I am to be on a panel of producers speaking on the transition to group housing, you can read about our farm moving pigs inside from outside pastures in many of my previous posts.  I am pretty sure my experiences will be unique on the panel, since the other producers are transitioning from stalled systems.  It's exciting to meet with other farmers and hear about their challenges and innovations in our new systems.

Today I was informed that some animal activist groups have registered members for the conference.  In an effort for transparency, the conference has decided to welcome them, and address any questions they have, while trying to keep things civil between the parties.  I know that the panel I am speaking on may be a point of interest for for the activists, so I am fully aware that that I may be faced with some tough ethical questions.  I have been in those situations before, and while it is hard, I feel like I can present myself and my industry as caring and responsible.

That being said, I am afraid.  I am scared of what one person's bad experience with agriculture can do to my family, my community. Someday, something I write may cause somebody to find my farm and try to ruin what we have worked so hard to build. One video, one accusation, (even if it is unfounded) is enough to bring the farm to a screeching halt. Once somebody puts something bad out about the farm, it spreads like a disease. If I am doing something wrong, I absolutely want to be made aware, and I want to fix it.  I don't even care about people knowing that I messed up.  However, I don't want to be accused of not caring for the animals.  I know there are things that can be improved on the farm, but I am doing the best I can with the information I have.  I hold my coworkers to the standards set in place by our vets, packers, Pork Board, audits, and consumers.  I fill out the necessary documentation.  I can't promise that nothing bad has ever happened on the farm, but I can say with full confidence that everyday we become better at raising pigs.  Part of getting better is learning from past mistakes.  I am in no way saying we tolerate abuse, but what we know to be abuse now was not considered as such 25 years ago.  We listened, learned, and changed our practices; we will continue to change.

People in the United States are entitled to their own beliefs, and can make choices on the goods and services they purchase based on any parameters they choose.  I am not offended by people who follow their convictions even if I don't agree with them.  I write about my experiences- not trying to be right or wrong, but to explain my perspective.  I want to listen to what others have to say about production agriculture and learn from our conversations.  The people who push you to grow aren't those that put you down, but those that challenge you to aim higher.  I want to be part of the solution, and throwing around blame does not solve anything.  To really make agriculture better, we have to identify our problems and channel our energy towards fixing them.