Dairy Australia and Food Innovation Australia Limited are joining forces with leading Australian researchers to support dairy veterinarians and farmers to monitor and benchmark their animal health, antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance.
The study, undertaken by world-class researchers from universities in three states, will cover all eight dairy regions across Australia and aims to understand the current animal health status and antibiotic use on Australian dairy farms and identify key strategies to addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Pilot farmers will receive reports on key animal health indicators such as clinical mastitis and calf health, antibiotic and anti-inflammatory use.
Dairy veterinarians, farmers and post-graduate students can also nominate to be part of this groundbreaking research.
Dairy Australia’s Stephanie Bullen said effective antibiotics were a critical tool for dairy farmers to maintain the health and welfare of their animals.
“AMR develops when infections no longer respond to antibiotics used to treat them,” Dr Bullen said.
“AMR can occur due to overuse of antibiotics, incorrect use of antibiotics or when one type of resistant bacteria transfers their resistance genes to another type.
“All users of antibiotics — medical professionals, patients, veterinarians and farmers — have a responsibility to use antibiotics well.
“The Australian dairy industry has committed to stewardship of antibiotics, using as little as possible and only as often as necessary, and this is reflected in the Australian Dairy Sustainability Framework.”
FIAL managing director Mirjana Prica said this study was important to the future of dairy in Australia’s food system.
“Global protein consumption has risen 40 per cent since 2000 and the demand for traditional proteins like dairy is expected to remain strong in Australia,” Dr Prica said.
“From our comprehensive Capturing the Prize report launched in October 2020, we know that growing demand for traditional proteins — such as dairy, meat and eggs — could present an additional opportunity worth $31 billion.
“Investing in this project is important with the rise of consumer interest in the origins of their food and the industry’s need to increase supply chain transparency, food safety testing and biological hazard control.”
This project will combine on-farm data from herd management software with a farm’s veterinary medicine purchase data from practice management software to generate farm reports.
The research will be underpinned by robust social science to ensure reports meet farmer and veterinarian needs.
Additionally, Dairy Australia and FIAL are funding the first specific survey on AMR in dairy cattle to understand the current levels of antimicrobial resistance to important bacteria on participants’ farms.
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