On-Farm Antibiotic Testing

It should be clear to all now that Food Safety Begins On The Dairy and that this premise must be the main thrust of dairy production from this time forward. The consumer will require nothing less than continued production of a safe and wholesome product, and the process-ing plant wants the residue status managed more closely before the milk reaches the plant. The current regulatory climate has initiated a series of programs that have resulted in an increased possibility that an antibiotic residue violation can be detected when present in the milk. Therefore, we must all begin thinking in terms of Preharvest Food Safety as we man-age the dairy herd health status. This necessitates that dairy producers and their veterinari-ans take more calculated approaches to antibiotic use on the dairy. The 10-point Milk and Dairy Beef Quality Assurance Program was developed in a col-laborative effort between the National Milk Producers Federation and the American Veteri-nary Medical Association and is designed to promote and document responsible antibiotic use on the dairy. Mastitis occurs on every dairy and is one of the most common diseases that the dairy cow confronts on a daily basis. One area of emphasis in the 10-point program is individual animal testing for antibiotic residues after a specified withdrawal time has bee