Veterinary Feed Directive Analysis

January 1st, 2017 all livestock producers, veterinarians, feed distributors and manufacturers had to be in compliance with the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD).The Veterinary Feed Directive has affected the livestock industry to ensure medically important drugs are being used responsibly by producers, veterinarians, distributors, and manufacturers. This was implemented to assure consumers that livestock producers take good care of our animals while producing a healthy, wholesome food (Salfer, J,2015)
What are medically important drugs? Medically important drugs are drugs that are used in the treatment of both humans and livestock. The products affected include Penicillins, Sulfas, Cephalosporins, Quinolones, Fluoroquinolones, Tetracyclines,
Mandated in the VFD order and regulated by state laws producers will all have to have a valid Vet Client Patient Relationship (VCPR)(Food and Drug Administration, 2015). A valid VCPR is required to show that the veterinarian is familiar with the operations they write VFDs for. Other effects on producers include more record keeping, cost for using VFD drugs, and timeliness of getting a VFD for animal treatment. The increase in record keeping is caused by the requirement of keeping VFD forms for at least two years. These forms can be used either filed electronically or hard copy. The increased cost of using VFD drugs is $15 per drug VFD every 6 months. Small producers will have to follow these guidelines as well. The cost of the VFD is the same weather you have one or ten thousand animals. VFD’s don't discriminate on size, this can make it more expensive for the small 4-H of FFA project. Producers worry about the timeliness of having a VFD written for the treatment of their animals. They worry because animals usually don’t get sick during business hours and could lead to potential problem. At our farm we have a very good relationship with our vet. My father has called the vet on easter sunday with sick hogs and had medication for them after church was left
Even though these producers have stockpiled these medications they legally cannot use them without a VFD. If the FDA would ever audit the producers for VFD forms and feed records they would be in violation of the law. If producers don’t want to get VFDs they will have very few options on what to medicate. The only drug that my family farm uses is called Bacitracin Methylene Disalicylate (BMD) that will not require a VFD. BMD is used for controlling swine