Building on the success of previous Swine Expert Forum meetings, again 60 key stakeholders from science, retailers, slaughter houses, producers and the veterinary field from all over the world came together to exchange their knowledge, expertise and experience to tackle a burning issue for everyone involved in swine production. As the global market leader in pig vaccines Boehringer Ingelheim each year is providing a unique platform to foster exchange and share scientific information. In a workshop important trends in global pig production and what these mean for the role of the pig food chain for sustainable food production are being discussed.
The need for reduction of antimicrobial use in pig production is a major challenge. There are different expert opinions about how the use of antimicrobials in livestock production affects antimicrobial resistance in human health but the main question arises on how far antimicrobial usage can be reduced to meet consumer and society demands without jeopardizing animal health and animal welfare. In addition can we as an industry agree to the use of antimicrobials to compensate form suboptimal production management?
Some northern European countries have already several years ago taken significant steps to reduce the antimicrobial use, whereas other countries are mjust at the beginning of that journey. The reduction of antimicrobial consumption and sustainable food production remains an important agenda topic in politics, the food chain and consumer groups.
