We recognize the growing global concern over Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), its impact for human medicine, veterinary medicine, public and animal health, as well as society and the shared concern of antibiotic use’s influence on AMR.
PIPESTONE’s commitment to Responsible Antibiotic Use and reduced AMR serves as the framework for our Pipestone Antibiotic Use Standards (PORK). We are committed to clear, transparent, and third party validated practices for antibiotic use in pigs as encompassed by well-defined standards.
Responsible use is a critical component to improving the health and wellbeing of the animals we care for. PIPESTONE does not support antibiotic use as a result of poor husbandry or failing management systems. When needed, antibiotics should be viewed as an acceptable veterinary treatment complementing good husbandry, good nutrition, preventative medicine through vaccination, proper facility design, geographical density, bio security, on-farm hygiene, and disease eradication when possible. PIPESTONE provides expertise and guidance in all these areas in concert with our veterinary recommendations through a valid Veterinary Client Patient Relationship (VCPR) as set forth by the Veterinary Practice Act. In all veterinary and pig husbandry activities, we are committed to responsible use of antibiotics.
Criteria:
The PORK standards are built on the following priorities:
- Veterinary oversight of all antibiotic use.
- OWN approach. Antibiotics should be used Only When Necessary.
- Focus on reducing the use of antibiotics that are critically important to human medicine as defined by the FDA.
- Proper documentation.
- Standardized methods for verification, goal tracking, and 3rd party validation.
A producer certifies the production of hogs for PORK at one of three levels as set forth below (and summarized in Table 1). These levels apply to all phases of swine production, including breeding, farrowing, nursery and grow-finish operations.
