Antibiotic Stewardship in Animal Agriculture

Antibiotic use in animal agriculture drives antimicrobial resistance with major human and animal health consequences - welfare-focused farming reduces both AMR and animal suffering.

Key Facts

Around 73% of global antibiotics are used in food-producing animals, primarily in high-income countries
Prophylactic and metaphylactic antibiotic use (treating healthy or at-risk animals) drives resistance more than therapeutic use
The WHO has classified several antibiotics as critically important for human medicine and restricted for agricultural use
Denmark's voluntary then mandatory reduction in pig antibiotics reduced total use by 50% without decreasing productivity
Higher welfare systems have reduced antibiotic use - Danish organic pig farms use 90% less antibiotics than conventional
UK voluntary targets have reduced farm antibiotic use by around 50% since 2014

Welfare Considerations

Antibiotic stewardship and animal welfare are deeply interlinked. The conditions that require routine antibiotic prophylaxis - crowding, poor ventilation, high stocking densities - are the same conditions that compromise welfare. Welfare improvements that reduce crowding and stress therefore simultaneously reduce antibiotic need. Conversely, restricting antibiotics without improving welfare conditions can increase disease and suffering. The One Health framing - connecting animal, human, and environmental health - provides a powerful policy rationale for farm animal welfare improvement that resonates beyond conventional welfare advocates.

What You Can Do

Choose meat and dairy products from farms with verified low antibiotic use and higher welfare standards
Support policies restricting prophylactic antibiotic use in animal agriculture
Reduce meat consumption to reduce overall demand for high-intensity, high-antibiotic production systems
Engage with retailers about their antibiotic reduction commitments and welfare standards
Follow UK VARSS (Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance) reports on agricultural antibiotic use
Support One Health campaigns connecting antibiotic stewardship and farm animal welfare reform