Drug residues in meat and milk are closely monitored by the FDA. If you have a violation, the following actions can be taken against your dairy:

Armon Hetzel

Professional Services Veterinarian / Armor Animal Health

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• Fined for the tanker load of milk
• Milk pickups suspended
• Grade A permits suspended
• Cut off from shipping animals for meat
• FDA record investigation
• Continuous monitoring and inspection

By working to reduce drug residue violations, we can also increase consumer confidence in meat and dairy products.

Top reasons for residue violations

Milk

• Not diverting the pipeline from bulk tank for hospital or treated cows
• Purchasing treated cows which were milked into bulk tank
• Using drugs for extra-label treatment and shipping milk too soon
• Fresh cow milk containing residues from dry cow treatment
• Misreading a “zero meat, zero milk withdrawal” label claim

Meat

• Improper withdrawal times for mastitis and dry treatments
• Changing dose or route for antibiotics
• Calves marketed for veal consumed colostrum or medicated milk replacer
• Administering antibiotics incorrectly
• Improper withdrawal for cows treated with uterine boluses or infusions
• Using drugs for extra-label treatments

Four steps to manage the risk in your herd

1. Determine your risk

• Do you use antibiotics on your dairy?
  o Ceftiofur
  o Enrofloxacin
  o Flunixin
  o Nuflor
  o Penicillin
  o Sulfadimethoxine

• Have you ever used a dry tube on a lactating cow?
• Does your farm ever use drugs in a way not specifically stated on the label?
• Do you have employees who need more training on disease identification?
• Have you ever treated an animal without recording it?
• Do you ship cull cows or calves without IDs and records?
• Do you believe a negative on-farm test will prevent a meat or milk residue violation?
• Has your farm ever had a residue violation?
• Would a visit by a regulatory official be concerning?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, your herd could be at risk for a residue violation.

2. On-farm visit: Have your herd vet or consultant identify red flags and perform an evaluation.

3. Risk management: After analyzing your situation, develop action plans to address high-risk areas.

4. Follow-up: Schedule follow-up visits with your herd vet or consultant to aid in implementing your risk management strategy and reduce procedural deviation.

Reach out to a veterinarian to learn how we can help you manage your residue risk.