As we move into the final weeks of session, activists are making a final push to pass SB 920 out of the Senate Rules Committee. Anti-farm groups are spreading misinformation and fear about the use of antibiotics by family farmers and ranchers in Oregon. They are labeling Oregon farmers and ranchers as “factory farms,” despite the fact that 98% of farmers in Oregon are family farmers. Please help stop the spread of misinformation and contact your legislators!
The facts:
– SB 920 would prohibit the use of antibiotics to prevent disease in farm animals, likely increasing mortality and sickness in food animals and driving up the cost of food production in Oregon.
– SB 920 ignores significant work already underway at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove growth promotion from the label and put oversight of antibiotics in the hands of veterinarians. In fact, FDA finalized its the Veterinary Feed Directive earlier this month, requiring veterinary oversight of antibiotics used in feed or water. The federal government is taking proactive steps to address the public’s concern about antibiotic resistance that will apply to producers in all 50 states.
– Activists claim that Oregon’s farmers and ranchers are overusing antibiotics and that farm animal health should be treated similar to human health. This is simply inaccurate. Farm Bureau members care about the health and welfare of their animals and use antibiotics judiciously, according to the FDA label. SB 920 would establish conflicting federal and state regulations and could lead to increased antibiotic use as a disease moves through a population.
– State-specific regulations put Oregon’s family farmers at a competitive disadvantage and do not recognize the significant work underway at the federal level to address the use of antibiotics in food animals.
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