Reducing antibiotic use in pig farming requires welfare improvements that prevent disease. Understanding this connection drives both AMR and welfare progress.
Antibiotic overuse in pig farming is fundamentally a welfare symptom - when pigs are disease-prone, antibiotics treat the consequences of welfare deficits. Improving welfare through better housing, enrichment, nutrition, and management reduces disease incidence and antibiotic need simultaneously. AMR reduction and welfare improvement are complementary, not competing goals.