Wm. Sischo et al., IMPLEMENTING A QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM USING A RISK ASSESSMENT-TOOLON DAIRY OPERATIONS, Journal of dairy science, 80(4), 1997, pp. 777-787
Concerns and perceptions about antibiotic residues in milk prompted th
e dairy industry to develop a voluntary program to support rational an
tibiotic use on dairy farms. One deficiency of this program is the ina
bility of producers to identify easily the weaknesses in antibiotic ma
nagement in order to develop control plans. To overcome this deficienc
y, an educational approach was designed. The program centered on an on
-farm risk assessment tool used by the producer and an industry educat
or to determine the current risk for residue violation. The risk asses
sment tool was tested by 25 field personnel working with northeastern
milk receivers and 250 producers in seven states. The participants in
the study identified a lack of adequate treatment records as being the
highest risk factor for antibiotic residues, followed by deficiencies
in understanding how to use antibiotics and poor relationships betwee
n veterinarians and their clients. When field representatives utilized
the risk assessment tool, for most producers, risk of antibiotic resi
due decreased by approximately 19%. In particular, more farms kept wri
tten records or more complete records. Finally, producers with reporte
d histories of antibiotic residues were less likely to implement manag
ement changes to reduce the risk of antibiotic residue.