Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR as it is more commonly known, has been described as the greatest threat facing humanity. The United Nations has predicted that by 2050 it will be responsible for 10 million deaths per annum and the World Health Organisation has warned that super bugs that cause diseases such as sepsis, pneumonia and salmonella will soon be resistant to antibiotics.

Worryingly for global agriculture, the level of resistance in humans is, according to the OECD, in part due to the use of antimicrobials in livestock production systems that are the same or similar to the antimicrobials used in human medicine.

While not to undermine the potential threat that AMR presents, it could be argued that the growing awareness among consumers of the link between animal health and human health is a positive – particularly for food-producing countries such as Ireland, where a robust supply chain and proper animal identification systems allow for accurate monitoring of herd health status at national and individual farm level.

It will also finally set apart those production systems that use antibiotics solely for therapeutic purposes (ie the treatment of sick animals) and those which use them to increase output. The latter are dependent on antibiotics as a tool to prevent diseases and rely on their continuous inclusion in diets to improve feed conversion ratios and animal performance.

As Thomas Hubert reports, even within Europe, Ireland has a very positive message to present about the level of antibiotic use on Irish farms. A recent report produced for the European Commission showed Ireland to have one of the lowest levels of antibiotic consumption within food-producing animals, at around 30% of the EU average.

The necessary data is not available to isolate antibiotic usage across sectors and therefore the production profile across member states will influence this figure. Nevertheless, the report does show that at a time when antibiotic consumption in EU agriculture is rising, usage rates in Ireland are in decline.

Meanwhile, the EU report perhaps sheds some light on why the largest Italian retailer, Coop Italia, is looking to Ireland as a source of antibiotic-free beef; on an equivalent basis, Ireland’s antibiotic use in food-producing animals is 17% of that in Italy.

The opportunity exists for the Irish food industry to embrace the AMR challenge in the same way it responded to the environmental sustainability challenge through the Bord Bia Origin Green programme.

However, we should learn from mistakes of the past. To their credit, Bord Bia and the industry have been well aware of the AMR challenges. Work is ongoing in a bid to try to establish trends for antibiotic use across the various sectors and identify best practice protocols to further limit use.

However, any scheme to tackle AMR must have complete buy-in from farmers and cannot be led by the industry alone. Farmer support will be essential when it comes to putting in place a system that allows us to credibly make claims around the low-level antibiotic use on Irish farms and the associated health benefits of Irish food. It is a message that would quickly collapse – and with it any potential premium – if the results from residue testing do not match the marketing message.

Central to any strategy to reduce antibiotic use and promote the human health benefits of Irish food exports must be the ability to extract premium prices from the market and for this to be reflected in farmgate prices. There is certainly a role for Government in helping the industry respond. Research into the antibiotic alternatives is one area that requires more focus. There are promising results from early trials into the antibiotic compounds in seaweeds. Education at farm level will also be key with the potential to tackle many of the animal health challenges on farms through better management and shed design.

Meanwhile, the IFA has called for a zero VAT rate on vaccines. It appears illogical to have zero VAT on oral drenches while a 23% rate is charged on vaccines that have been shown to deliver positive benefits in relation to animal performance, and in doing so reduce the need to intervene with antibiotics.