By Dori Modney (@Dori_Modney on Twitter) with files from Alberta Beef Producers

The way farmers and ranchers purchase antibiotics changes Dec. 1

Nov 28, 2018 | 2:29 PM

CALGARY —  Effective Saturday (Dec 1) all livestock producers will require a prescription from a licensed veterinarian before purchasing medically important antibiotics.

Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) Production Specialist, Karen Schmid says controls are being placed on medications.

“Such things as tetracycline or penicillin that you used to be able to get at a farm supply store, they now require a prescription from your veterinarian.  So, it’s really important to sit down and have that conversation with your vet, make sure your vet-patient-client relationship is very strong and ensure that you have those prescriptions on file, to be filled when you need them.”

Schmid says you will not be able to just run down the street to the UFA and pick up a bottle of alamycin when you need it.

She says there will be producers who notice no significant changes to their operations while for other situations, the changes coming could be more impactful:

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“I think that for producers that have a strong relationship with their vet already, they will not see large changes.  We do have a few concerns around producers in remote areas, where there aren’t a lot of veterinarian options – if their veterinary clinic is closed for an emergency or something like that.”

Schmid adds there is a message in all of this, not just for the producer but for consumers as well.

“I think the main point is that we need to demonstrate to our public that we are doing a good job with these products, because we are but, we need to show the public that we’re doing that, so we retain the right to use them.”