Shortage of Medications and Feed Ingredients Affects US Ranchers

Doug Chapin, a Michigan dairy farmer, has been unable to buy vials of penicillin for his cows for over a month.

In Minnesota, the pig farmer Randy Spronk reformulated feed rations due to a shortage of lysine, an amino acid that helps animals grow.

Supply chain disruptions are affecting US meat producers and forcing them to look for alternatives as they try to care for their farm animals and keep costs down.

Shortages of some drugs such as penicillin partly reflect a competition for raw materials between people and animals, as the COVID-19 pandemic shifted demand and disrupted global trade with shipping jams and port bottlenecks. .

Supply problems, in turn, are causing veterinarians to question long-standing agricultural practices and are forcing change within the food sector.

Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, stated that it has seen shortages and had to substitute products to maintain animal care.

In states like Iowa and Minnesota, farmers said they have trouble getting lysine, a cheaper food alternative to soy flour.

The main supply problems surround dry lysine products outside of China, he said. Archer-Daniels-Midland. The Chicago-based commodities trader ended dry lysine production this year and sells a liquid version.

Farmers like Spronk they are giving more soy flour to pigs, at a higher cost, to replace the dry lysine. The change helped lift Chicago Stock Exchange soybean meal futures to a four-month high on Wednesday.

Supply problems

Chapin and his family are also trying to stock up on penicillin and other products in case the animals get sick. Penicillin, one of the most widely used drugs in livestock production, can treat respiratory diseases and other conditions.

Widespread penicillin shortages across the country have created challenges for the operations of cattle ranchers and dairy farmers, it said. Patrick Curtains, president of a veterinary association.

Veterinarians have had a hard time finding even a few vials of Pen-G, an injectable antibiotic for treating diseased cattle, sheep, and pigs.

A similar shortage occurs with some tetracyclines, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections in farm animals, veterinarians said.

“In some cases, we have looked for alternatives to therapy or have discussed whether this treatment is really that effective or necessary.”, He stated Curtain.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists nine veterinary drugs that became in short supply in the wake of the pandemic. The agency said it contacted the manufacturers and does not know when the supply problems will be resolved.

“This shortage should not limit the ability of veterinarians to provide appropriate medical treatment or euthanasia to pets or livestock.“, said Jose Arce, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Zoetis Inc, the world’s largest animal health company, does not make penicillin products, but reported “localized limitations” in other products as the pandemic has affected supply chains. The company did not want to identify the drugs.

The Irish Manufacturer Bimeda Inc has two veterinary penicillin products on the drug shortage list of the FDA, including Pro-Pen-G.

Another problem is that the raw materials normally used to make antibiotics for animals have been diverted to make amoxicillin for humans, he explained. Mary van Dijk, spokesperson for bimeda. Medicines share starting materials and demand for human amoxicillin increased during the pandemic, he noted.

Amoxicillin can be used to treat ear infections in children, sore throats, and other conditions. “Supply interruptions are not fully resolved”, He remarked Van Dijk.