42 The Trusted Source for Canada’s Pork Producers Better Pork | June 2024 BENCHMARKING ANTIMICROBIAL USE ‘Producers are practising safe, responsible use of antimicrobials.’ By Jeanine Moyer SWINE HEALTH ONTARIO The Ontario swine industry has been proactively monitoring antimicrobial usage since 2014 through a series of benchmarking studies. “Studies like this allow the industry to provide transparency to producers and consumers about the antimicrobials that get used in hog production,” says Jessica Fox, manager at Swine Health Ontario, and member of the Ontario Pork Industry Council’s (OPIC) Antimicrobial Use Working Group. “That’s one of the reasons our industry is invested in conducting these studies to measure what’s happening, track trends and understand the impact of on-farm decisions. It’s important we know what’s going on.” The fourth study in a series of antimicrobial-use benchmarking analyses, the results of the 2022 report are used to compare with previous studies conducted in 2014, 2016, and 2018 and monitor the use of antimicrobials across the industry. Fox says the results are encouraging, noting Ontario’s swine industry is making positive changes by reducing the overall use of antimicrobials over time. “Antimicrobials are a critical tool in both animal and human health, and their effectiveness needs to be maintained as long as possible,” explains Fox. “This benchmarking study also helps producers compare their antibiotic use with the rest of the industry and inform antimicrobial use decisions in the future.” Province-wide study Conducted by OPIC and funded by Ontario Pork, the study included 41 Ontario hog farms, representing more than 82,000 breeding sows and over 1.72 million finishing pigs. Contributing farms ranged in size from single site farrow-to-finish to large multi-site flows. In addition to hog farms, significant contributions were also made to the study by five veterinary clinics and 17 feed mills that supplied the farms with antimicrobials. There were three objectives of the study: Quantify the amount, category, and cost of antimicrobials used to raise hogs through each stage. Provide data to assist pork producers in benchmarking their antimicrobial use within the industry. Identify potential reasons for yearto-year changes in on-farm and industry-wide antimicrobial choice and usage. Each participant’s production information was matched to antimicrobial sales records to provide an estimate of a farm’s annual antimicrobial use. More than 50 per cent of the original farms that were involved in the first benchmarking analysis in 2014 have participated in all four studies, and 98 per cent of the 41 farms in the 2022 study have participated in the last Jodie Aldred photo Producers should review medication plans with their veterinarians to wisely use microbials across all production stages.
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