What really is the Veterinary Feed Directive?

While many people may have heard of the Veterinary Feed Directive, few actually know what it is or why it was formed. For many years, medicated feeds have been used to prevent and treat disease conditions in livestock. However, in recent years, they believe that certain medicated feeds are being used to treat diseases that they are not known to treat. To avoid this the FDA has created a program called the Veterinary Feed Directive. The Veterinary Feed Directive will monitor what medicated antimicrobials are being fed to livestock. The FDA will rely solely on veterinarians to make sure that the correct feeds are given.

Kansas State University Research Mike Apley talks about why the VFD was put into place and more about certain feeds that will now need a VFD. Click here to view the video. He also talks about the new role veterinarians will now take on.

Producers will need Veterinarian approval
 before feeding an antimicrobial.

The veterinarians are now responsible for prescribing all the medicated feeds. Producers will no longer be able to purchased feeds without a prescription from their local vet. The vets must be certified in the state that the the producers livestock are located. The vets also should have a good working relationship with the producers and know their cattle herd. To establish this, the vets may need to make visits to the ranches. Follow ups at the ranch may also be needed in some cases to make sure the prescribed medication worked.

According to NDSU Extension for the the feed directive to be valid, it must include both the veterinarian's and client's name and contact information, the identification of the animals treated and how many, the date of treatment and the name of the drug. The indications of how the drug is to be used should also be included. A valid VFD will also need feeding instructions, withdrawal times, expiration date of the drug, and the number of refills available. The veterinarians license number should also be on there. They also need a statement saying that extra-label use is prohibited.

This is an example of a drug label which states what it is to be
used for and how it should be administered.

That statement is the main reason why the VFD was put into place. Extra-label use is when the drug is used to treat diseases other than the ones listed on the label. The reason that producers can not do this is because the withdrawal times change when they use medications differently and they do not want any residue to end up in there meat. The FDA also does not animals to develop a resistance to the drug.

If producers start to practice keeping accurate records of all antibiotics and antimicrobial given, the transition into the VFD policy will be really easy and smooth. The VFD is put into place for the safety of the livestock and consumers.

Be prepared for the VFD coming into effect in January of 2017.