Agricultural News
Dr. Brian Lubbers Offers Advice to Producers With VFD on the Horizon
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 16:17:29 CDT
There has been a lot of discussion recently surrounding the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) being pursued by the Food & Drug Administration and producers have expressed great interest in learning how these new regulations will affect their operations. Brian Lubbers, D.V.M., Ph.D., Kansas State University Microbial Surveillance Lab director, recently spoke at The Samuel Roberts Noble Research Foundation during an open forum designed to shed light on the VFD for producers and industry stakeholders.
Dr. Lubbers explained that the VFD came about over the last three to four years as part of a big picture strategy by the FDA in response to the antimicrobial resistance issue, particularly in humans, but extended to the role of animal agriculture as well. The VFD actually consists more of revised existing regulations rather than of new ones being implemented by the FDA in an effort to manage the use of antibiotics judiciously. He went on to explain that the VFD, specifically Guidance 209 and 213, can be boiled down to two main principles; the first being that when antimicrobials are used in food animals, it is because they are necessary for the animal's health; and secondly, that a licensed veterinarian will be involved in that decision.
There is no question that VFD will affect the way producers manage their herds, but Dr. Lubbers assured that the key to streamlining the process is to prepare by establishing a working relationship with a veterinarian and familiarizing them with your operation, cattle and any disease challenges your herd may have so that they may fulfill VFD orders in the future.
"There are steps to go through, yes, but it is really all about having that relationship that everybody knows what's going on at that time," Lubbers said.
Watch Dr. Lubbers' full presentation during the forum by clicking here.
Listen to Dr. Lubbers talk more about the Veterinarian Feed Directive during today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
