Assessment of the knowledge and behavior of backyard and small-scale producers in California regarding disease prevention, biosecurity practices and antibiotics use

Abstract

The number and popularity of backyard poultry and livestock farming have rapidly increased in California as well as other states in the United States following consumers' preference for local and organic products in the last few years. This study aimed to investigate current on-farm management and farmers' understanding of Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) and California Senate Bill (SB) 27 implications for disease prevention, biosecurity procedures, and antimicrobial use in small-scale and backyard farms in California. The survey consisted of 38 questions. The responses of 242 backyard and small-scale livestock owners were investigated in this study. Descriptive statistics summarized survey responses, and multivariable logistic regression evaluated the association of antibiotics purchase and use, and the impact of VFD and SB27 on antibiotic use with demographics and on-farm management. Backyard and small-scale farmers in California mostly raised chickens or small ruminants with small herd sizes kept for personal use. Antibiotics were generally used for individual treatment of a sick animal with the guidance of a veterinarian. VFD and SB27 implementation promoted the judicious use of antibiotics, specifically, by enhancing the relationship between backyard and small-scale farmers with veterinarians and treating fewer animals with antibiotics under veterinary oversight. Therefore, better access to veterinary service in backyard and small-scale farms will improve the farmer's knowledge of good husbandry practices with judicious antimicrobial use in livestock and finally contribute to reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance in California.

Fig 1. Geographical distribution of respondents’ premises by counties in California (n = 242).

Fig 2. Summary of respondents’ farm demographics and clustering analysis.

(A) Dendrogram of respondents’ tendency to raise livestock/poultry species (B) Distribution of three clusters identified by hierarchical clustering analysis combining factor analysis of mixed data (C) The respondents’ reason to raise livestock/poultry in the three clusters (D) Species and herd/flock size of livestock/poultry in the three clusters. * 4-H is a US youth program housed by land-grant universities’ Cooperative Extension. This program provides developmental opportunities to youth (age 5 to 19) in rural farming communities, urban neighborhoods, and schoolyards. Skills learned include agriculture, animal husbandry, community service and personal development. FFA: National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America) is a US intracurricular student organization. It gives students experience in agriculture and leadership (middle and high school classes).

Fig 3. Summary of antibiotic treatment to livestock/poultry by type of diseases and species.