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Animal Ag Alliance challenges CLF report

A new analysis from the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future says the Administration and Congress have not done enough to remedy the public health, environmental, animal welfare and rural community problems created by the industrial food animal production system. The analysis points to a 2008 Pew Commission report which outlined problems created by the industrial food animal production system and offered a series of recommendations.

Among the recommendations:

• Ban the non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in food animal production
• Phase out production practices such as gestation crates within a decade
• Treat industrial farm animal production as an industrial operation and implement a new system to deal with farm waste

The Center for a Livable Future director Robert Lawrence says not only has there been a lack of progress on the recommendations, we’ve regressed. “The failure to act by the USDA and FDA, the lack of action or concern by the Congress, and continued intransigence of the animal agriculture industry have made all of our problems worse,” states Lawrence.

The Animal Ag Alliance is taking issue with the report: for one thing, the claim that the use of antibiotics in livestock production is leading to antibiotic resistance in humans. Former USDA Under Secretary, Food Safety and Inspection, Dr. Richard Raymond says “the information that is being oftentimes spread is wrong.” He contends that more than 80 percent of the antibiotics used in the production of livestock are not used in humans. 40% are ionophors which have never been approved for human use and 42% are oxytetracycline and chorotetracycline, “those two have not been prescribed by any reputable health care professional in the United States in the last thirty years.” If they have it has only been as what Raymond describes as “an extremely poor third or fourth choice for limited diseases such as Lyme’s Disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

He also addressed those who point to Denmark which limited the use of growth promotant antibiotics in 1998. Raymond says since the use of growth promotants was banned, Denmark has seen a 110% increase in the therapeutic use of antibiotics, “because the animals are getting sick.”

Raymond added that he was in Switzerland two weeks ago and bought a hamburger which cost him $105 (U.S.) “That is what will happen if we have to change our ag practices to what the Pew and others would like us to do.” He stresses that our system provides good, safe food at an affordable price.

AUDIO:Dr. Raymond’s comments 2:54 mp3

Dr. Frank Mitloehner is an air quality specialist with the University of California-Davis studying air quality at large livestock operations. He says the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock “was inflated”. He challenged the FAO claim that 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the world come from livestock and has been appointed head of a study group to develop a better methodology to get an accurate assessment. He contends the U.S. livestock industry is far ahead of anyone else in the world when it comes to measuring true sustainability in livestock production.

AUDIO: Dr. Mitloehner’s comments 5:42 mp3

 The full Animal Agriculture Alliance report is available here: