Antibiotic soil

The widespread use of antibiotics on livestock to prevent rather than treat disease is causing an adverse impact on soil microbes around farms where the antibiotics are used, researchers say.

A team from Virginia Tech examined soil samples from 11 U.S. dairy farms and found the amount of antibiotic resistance genes was 200 times greater in soil near manure piles compared with soil from elsewhere.

The researchers point out that soil microbes are important in climate regulation, soil fertility and food production.

The wholesale use of antibiotics in agriculture could threaten those beneficial effects.