SUSTAINABILITY FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE December 2024 67 Barbara Brutsaert, Sustainability Manager Antibiotic Reduction at Trouw Nutrition: “By implementing an integrated feed-farm-health approach, producers notice a clear improvement in technical performance. Usually, the investment in the antibiotic reduction program is fully compensated by improvement in the feed conversion ratio alone. However, producers have also seen a clear, positive economic benefit by curbing antibiotic use.” With a focus on protecting the use of antibiotics for human and animal health, and a charge to “Educate. Advocate. Act now.”, World AMR Awareness Week returned 18-24 November. Livestock producers in some regions, such as the EU, have long been leaders in reducing or even eliminating the use of antibiotics in their flocks and herds. However, other producers are just starting to realize the benefits of reducing antibiotic use. In 2022, Trouw Nutrition launched its comprehensive, 5-step, antibiotic-reduction campaign, Small Switches, Big Change. How much change has been achieved in two years? Below, Barbara Brutsaert, Sustainability Manager Antibiotic Reduction with Trouw Nutrition, provides an update on antibiotic reduction progress made by producers around the globe. What results have you experienced since launching the Small Switches, Big Change campaign? We’ve seen a 50% reduction in the antibiotics our customers use via our products. Out of the total antibiotic usage, the use of antibiotics deemed critically important for human health has even declined by more than 70%, so I think that’s nice progress. Our first focus was to reduce critically important antibiotics, and then reduce the use of antibiotic growth promoters and antibiotics used for preventative purposes. Regionally, are there any areas where you’ve seen particularly noteworthy results? The biggest results have been seen in several the campaign’s initial areas of focus: Spain, Mexico, and Brazil. Our customers in those countries have drastically reduced antibiotic use. Even in Iberia, where SMALL SWITCHES, BIG CHANGE TWO YEARS IN
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