Quantification of antimicrobial usage on dairy farms before, during and after the implementation of farmworker stewardship training

Abstract

Antimicrobials are critical to preserving animal health and welfare. However, the development of antimicrobial resistance represents a public health threat. Veterinarians prescribe an­timicrobials, but farmworkers are responsible for making on-farm treatment decisions and their training is vital to promote responsible antimicrobial use (AMU). This research project aimed to describe and quantify AMU on large dairy farms in Ohio and California and evaluate the impact of farmworker antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) training on those metrics. We hypothesized that farms, where AMS training was adminis­tered, would have significantly lower AMU compared to farms where training was not administered.