Antibiotic use in farming is closely linked to animal welfare - both as a response to welfare problems and as a driver of antimicrobial resistance that threatens both human and animal health.
The relationship between animal welfare and antibiotic use is bidirectional and important. Animals in poor welfare conditions are more disease-prone, driving higher antibiotic use. Heavy antibiotic use selects for resistant bacteria that then fail to respond to treatment, creating disease that cannot be effectively managed. Good welfare is therefore both a consequence and a cause of lower antibiotic use. The withdrawal of routine antibiotic prophylaxis in the EU creates an obligation to improve the underlying welfare conditions that previously required antibiotic cover - a policy change that will only deliver its intended benefit if accompanied by genuine husbandry improvement.