The use of antibiotics in livestock was in the news several days ago. As I was reading through this news story, I noticed it lacked the cattle rancher’s point of view. In an attempt to balance that news story, I thought I would share with you how we use antibiotics on our ranch.

We have made the decision to use antibiotics in our livestock for a couple of reasons. First, when an animal is sick it is easy to see that they are suffering and our first instinct is to help. We use antibiotics to help these animals recover quickly and become healthy again. Second, we use antibiotics so that the sickness doesn’t spread through our entire herd. Knowing that these animals will at some point enter the food supply, we believe it is our responsibility to keep them as healthy as possible.

In our operation, we buy many calves from different ranches throughout the western US. For the first couple of months after they arrive, it’s very similar to my son’s Kindergarten class! Colds appear and get passed around like crazy! It’s our responsibility to combat these colds (usually respiratory infections in the calves) through the use of antibiotics.

When we have a calf that is sick we contact our veterinarian. He diagnoses the illness, prescribes the antibiotics and tells us how to best treat the calf. Our veterinarian shares our philosophy that judicious use of antibiotics is the best way for us to care for our animals.

How often do we administer antibiotics to our cattle? Not often.  We maintain spreadsheets on our calves to help us keep track of all types of information, such as antibiotic use. Of the calves we bought last fall, less than 7% of them have been treated with antibiotics.

Now, I realize that we are just one ranch. I can’t tell you how other ranchers handle the use of antibiotics. However, I can tell you that there are industry guidelines for cattle ranchers to follow. These guidelines are found in a science-based program called Beef Quality Assurance (BQA). BQA covers a broad range of topics and on our ranch we try to adhere to their guidelines in all situations. This program provides a way for ranchers to learn the best way to administer antibiotics, specifically where and how to give injections.

As parents, we are concerned about antibiotic resistant diseases. When one of our children is ill and antibiotics are prescribed, we always discuss the options with our pediatrician. Are antibiotics necessary? Is there an alternative? It’s a decision we face repeatedly. So, ultimately do we give our children antibiotics? Yes, we do. Not for every little sniffle, but for the bigger infections we don’t hesitate to fill that prescription.

We believe we are making responsible decisions, not only for our children, but also for our livestock.