Valley ranchers, vets to feel effects of FDA rule requiring prescription for antibiotics
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Rio Grande Valley ranchers are preparing for what could be a big burden.
The FDA ruled that starting on June 11, the easily accessible over the counter antibiotics ranchers use to treat their livestock will now require a veterinarian prescription.
An extra step some deem unnecessary.
"I guess a lot of us have asked the question why? Why did they do it? We really didn't expect these kinds of change," England Cow Company Ranch Manager Benton England said. "It's going to be more detrimental to the guys that produce than anything else."
England and his team handle up to 700 cattle year round. He says they need the flexibility to be able to run to the feed store for medicine when livestock get sick.
"When you need it, you need it, and you can't wait," England said.
England believes the cost of vet visits will add up on top of the pandemic effects they are still dealing with.
While ranchers are going to feel the effects of this new rule, so are veterinarians. They're going to be busy caring for these livestock animals, so those with cats or dogs might find it even harder to book those vet appointments
"It takes more time, it takes more effort, and it's harder work than doing smaller animals," Rio Rico Ranch Equine Breeding Facility General Practitioner Jack Valerius said.
Valerius says out of the nearly 50 vets in the Valley, less than 10 are livestock specialist.
Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Cattle Veterinary Specialist Dr. Thomas Harigrove explains why the FDA brought about this change.
"There's been a lot of talk over the last years about the overuse of antibiotics, not just in agricultural but in the human side too. It's creating antibiotic resistance, in other words the more you use and aren't using it properly then potentially that causes resistance in the population," Harigrove said.
But ranchers, like England, say the good shouldn't have to suffer for the bad.
"If we're talking about the 1 percent that's doing that," England said. "I don't think that you should punish the rest."
Ranchers are encouraged to establish good relationships with a vet so that once this change goes into effect, vets and ranchers can have clear understanding how they will get these prescriptions moving forward.
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