Antibiotic Stewardship in Livestock: Welfare and Resistance

Antibiotic use in livestock farming is a dual welfare and public health concern. Appropriate use is essential for treating sick animals; overuse drives resistance that threatens both animal and human health.

Key Facts

Approximately 73% of global antibiotic sales are used in animal agriculture, much of it for growth promotion rather than disease treatment
The WHO has classified several antibiotic classes as Critically Important Antimicrobials that should be restricted in animal use to preserve efficacy for human medicine
The EU banned growth promotion antibiotics in 2006, followed by a significant decline in agricultural antibiotic use across member states
Farms with high antibiotic use tend to have poorer welfare outcomes — antibiotic dependence reflects underlying welfare and biosecurity failures
Antibiotic resistance is estimated to cause 700,000 human deaths annually, projected to rise to 10 million by 2050 without intervention
Low antibiotic use farms that have invested in biosecurity, vaccination, and welfare management demonstrate that production is viable without routine medication

Welfare Considerations

The relationship between antibiotic use and animal welfare is complex. Antibiotics are essential for treating genuinely ill animals — denying treatment to sick animals in the name of antibiotic stewardship would cause severe welfare harm. The welfare concern is with prophylactic and sub-therapeutic antibiotic use that substitutes for adequate biosecurity, nutrition, housing, and welfare management. Farms that require routine antibiotics to maintain production are farms where the underlying welfare conditions are inadequate. Improving those conditions — through better housing, vaccination programs, reduced stocking density, improved nutrition, and skilled stockmanship — reduces antibiotic dependence while simultaneously improving animal welfare. The antibiotic resistance and animal welfare agendas are therefore deeply aligned: both are advanced by improving the underlying conditions of animal husbandry.

What You Can Do

Choose animal products from farms with low antibiotic use that can demonstrate good biosecurity and welfare management
Support regulatory restrictions on growth promotion and preventive antibiotic use in livestock across all markets
Advocate for transparent antibiotic use reporting by food companies in their supply chains
Support the Fleming Fund and Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership that work on antimicrobial resistance in both human and animal health contexts