4.1 Considerations When Treating Livestock on Organic and Alternative Farms and Ranches

Those working with organic and alternative livestock must remember some critical concepts, practices, and rules. Details of these rules are discussed below and other chapters of this book, including the Rules and Regulations.

The information we present on non-traditional medicine treatments, termed Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine (CAVM) by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), is given to provide background and knowledge of what veterinarians and other animal health providers may encounter when visiting organic and alternative farms. We are not presenting this information on alternative treatments to encourage or discourage their use but to provide you with resources to meet O/A producers where they are and work with them in a way that respects their knowledge and practices and leads to optimum health and welfare of their animals.

This might be your first introduction to some of these therapies, or you might already use some for yourself and your family, as most of them are included in the toolkit of human medicine. Some of these products and treatments work better than others, as with conventional medicines. The use of some of these products goes back hundreds of years (e.g., botanicals, homeopathy, acupuncture). As such, they are often the precursors of current pharmaceuticals used on conventional farms—especially botanicals. They have various levels of evidence-based scientific validation while also having ardent believers in their benefits—the same for those using conventional FDA-approved medications. This chapter may also introduce you to treatment modalities you wish to further educate yourself on and permanently add to your toolkit.

This is where many of the challenges between veterinarians and O/A producers occur. The loss of organic status for an animal is very serious, with short and long-term financial losses and potential emotional and other considerations. It often leads to farmers waiting too long to treat with conventional therapies. Animals that lose organic status because they have been given a prohibited substance must be recorded. The certifying agency must be notified. The animal must be clearly marked, separated from the production string, and sold or removed once the withdrawal times have passed.

Organic farms and the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance

Another important consideration when working with dairies that ship Grade A milk is the federal Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO)—states also regulate Grade A milk and may have more stringent regulations than the PMO. Because herbal and other alternative treatments are often not FDA-approved and lack NADA numbers, milk inspectors may debit inspections when organic therapies are found. Farmers can risk losing their permits for shipping milk. Inspectors vary from region to region, some lenient, some more stringent. Most of the time, however, inspectors across the US respect properly completed veterinary labels. Appropriate veterinary labeling and on-farm storage are in Section 15r of the PMO.  Alternative and allowed conventional treatments must be labeled with the following:

• The name and address of the authorizing veterinarian—one who is personally familiar with the farm and has a veterinary client-patient relationship (VCPR).
• The name of the active ingredients—this is met by displaying the drug’s common, generic, or scientific name, not the trade or brand name.
• Adequate directions for use.
• Withholding times for meat and milk, even if zero.
• Any necessary cautionary statements.

Antibiotics—as well as anti-parasiticides, GMOs, and hormones—are prohibited on organic livestock operations and may or may not be used on operations that consider themselves alternative. The debate on the use of antibiotics in livestock is a complicated mix of concerns related to food safety (e.g., appropriate use to prevent antibiotic residues and pathogens in food), food security (i.e., ensuring enough food for a growing population), and the ever-increasing global threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Minimizing antibiotic use to prevent residues in the food chain or to save important antimicrobials for severe infections in humans means stopping inappropriate use and preventing diseases of all kinds, in all species, through other means (Talkington et al., 2017).