Medicating livestock

SIR – If the Soil Association were “exploiting fears over antibioticresistant superbugs to sell more organic food”, as the chairman of the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs suggests (report, November 27), our campaigning on this matter would look very different.

The Soil Association is a founding member of the Alliance to Save our Antibiotics, and our call for a ban on the routine, preventative mass medication of livestock is in line with the Government’s position, the position of the European Medicines Agency and countless others. The European Commission, Parliament and Council are currently considering an EU-wide ban on such practices.

We have been trying to draw attention to this looming crisis for over 20 years. We want to see high-welfare solutions that allow all farm animals, organic or not, to live less stressful, healthier lives. Helen Browning Chief Executive, Soil Association Bristol SIR – Our dairy herd has been antibiotic-free for two years, and we have noticed that the cows are healthier than ever, even though our previous use of antibiotics was minimal.

We believed that if we stopped using them, a natural immunity to disease would develop in our herd – and we are seeing that now.

However, it’s not just antibiotics. Heavy metals, herbicides and pesticides are being used with abandon. Agricultural land is becoming toxic, and it’s getting into the food chain. We cannot expect our land to remain green, pleasant and fertile if we continue to employ harmful practices.

It is not about discrediting mainstream agriculture but, rather, explaining what is different when you go organic. No routine use of antibiotics, no genetically modified ingredients, food free of herbicides and pesticides – in all, a natural and healthy alternative to the overprocessed foods that have become the norm in our diets. Ian O’Reilly Gazegill Organic Farm Rimington, Lancashire