Agricultural News
National Cattlemen's Chief Veterinarian Educates and Prepares Producers for Up Coming VFD Rule
Mon, 08 Aug 2016 12:31:30 CDT
With 27 years of private practice experience under her belt along with 11 years managing her family's cow-calf operation and one year spent on Capitol Hill in policy work, Dr. Kathy Simmons, now working as Chief Veterinarian for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), is using her well-rounded knowledge of animal health regulatory issues to help educate and prepare producers for the upcoming Veterinarian Feed Directive (VFD) that will be officially implemented by the Food & Drug Administration on January 1, 2017.
Dr. Simmons explained exactly what VFD is and how it will impact the way producers manage and administer medically important antimicrobial drugs in cattle's feed and water. Essentially, she says it will mean using what most producers already have in place.
"Basically it says you have a veterinarian who has an understanding of your animals, who works with your animals, who is responsible for their care and oversight under veterinarian medical terms," Simmons said, "and keeps records on these animals and also is willing to do follow up and repeat visits."
She clarified that once the VFD rule is implemented at the start of 2017, antibiotics used in feed will require a VFD specific order, made by a veterinarian to a feed supplier and drugs used in water will require a vet's prescription. Dr. Simmons says to ensure the process of obtaining these drugs remains efficient and unobstructed, you will need to have an established veterinarian-client-patient relationship which she encourages everybody to begin doing before the new year.
"Everybody needs to make sure they have a relationship with a licensed veterinarian where their animals are being housed or reside," Simmons said. "What we call a veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR), that's been defined on the federal level and FDA has decided they will accept many of the state's Practice Acts definitions for VCPR."
Listen to Dr. Kathy Simmons talk more on the basics of VFD on 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.
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