Antibiotic use in cattle production affects both animal welfare through disease management and public health through antimicrobial resistance, requiring stewardship approaches that serve both objectives.
Antibiotic stewardship in cattle production sits at the intersection of animal welfare, public health, and agricultural economics. Antibiotics have been used not only to treat disease but to compensate for the welfare-compromising conditions that increase disease risk — crowding, stress, poor nutrition, and inadequate management. Responsible stewardship requires addressing the root causes of disease rather than relying on antibiotics as a management crutch. This means investing in housing quality, stress reduction, vaccination, and stockmanship — all of which improve animal welfare directly while reducing antibiotic dependence. The stewardship challenge is ensuring that reduced antibiotic use is accompanied by genuine welfare improvements rather than increased animal disease burden.