The use of antibiotics on UK dairy farms has fallen by almost a fifth within the past five years, according to an annual report.
Based on data from 879 dairy herds, the report shows there has been a 19% decline in total antimicrobials usage (AMU) since 2020.
Individual herd antimicrobial use ranged from 0.02 to 90.45 mg/PCU, according to Kingshay, which part of the VetPartners group.
However, average total antimicrobial usage for the year was 12.7 mg/kg PCU – down from 13.7 mg/PCU in 2023 and 15.7 mg/PCU in 2020.
Westpoint Farm Vets’ director and report co-author, Tim Potter said the figures showed that farmers' efforts to reduce antimicrobial use were paying dividends.
He said: “The aim isn’t for no antimicrobials to be used in farmed animals, but instead for their use to be reduced as much as possible whilst still maintaining their availability and effectiveness to treat disease.
“We are pleased to report that the latest data suggests that neither herd health or milk production have been impacted by this reduction in use.
"As total antimicrobial use has reduced, mastitis rates and bulk somatic cell counts have also reduced, and there hasn’t been a rise in culling for mastitis or an increase in the rate of cows leaving the herd.”
Furthermore, the report found that mastitis rates reduced to 26 cases per 100 cows – down from 29 in 2023 and 42 in 2020.
Antibiotic dry cow tube usage declined by 5.8% in the year to 0.425 DCDVet - the defined course dose - while lactating cow tube usage reduced by 10.2% to 0.386 DCDVet.
Dr Potter explained that the treatment of mastitis was one of the key reasons for using antimicrobials in the dairy sector.
But he said: "The fall in the number of cases and associated decrease in tube usage demonstrates the dairy sector’s commitment to addressing the challenge of this disease."
Emma Puddy, farm services specialist at Kingshay, who co-authored the report, said the dairy sector had made 'huge strides' in slashing the use of highest priority antimicrobials.
"The number of herds using any at all has dropped by nearly three-quarters since 2020 to 3.9%,” she explained.
Despite this progress, Ms Puddy believes there is room for continued improvement – especially in the 25% of herds using the most antimicrobials.
“The impact of these higher users is significant as they account for 50% of total group usage,” she concluded.
“It is vital that all UK dairy farmers work closely with their vets to drive down antibiotic use across the board.”
