The link between intensive livestock farming, antibiotic use, and antimicrobial resistance is a major public health and animal welfare issue. Reducing prophylactic antibiotic use requires systemic welfare improvements.
The antibiotic resistance crisis is, at its root, partly a livestock welfare crisis. High-density, high-stress farming creates the disease conditions that make prophylactic antibiotics necessary. Addressing both problems simultaneously — by improving welfare standards — is the most effective and efficient solution. Farms with high welfare standards require fewer antibiotics; farms that use fewer antibiotics must improve their welfare standards. This alignment of health and welfare incentives creates a powerful policy lever.