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Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Academic advocates user fees for agricultural antibiotics

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

University of Calgary economics professor Aidan Hollis sees user fees for the non-human use of antibiotics as a way to stop dangerous overuse.

Hollis and co-author Ziana Ahmed argue in a paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine that the "promiscuous" use of antibiotics is leading to antimicrobial resistance, which could seriously threaten human health.

Their research shows agriculture accounting for 80 per cent of annual antibiotic use in the United States. Hollis told The Poultry Site that many applications are "low-value" – designed to increase productivity, but resulting in marginal profits. "The real value of antibiotics is saving people from dying," Hollis says. "Everything else is trivial."

Rather than advocating an all-out ban on agricultural antibiotics, which would stress some farmers and drive up food prices, Hollis argues for a user fee that would deter indiscriminate use. BF

Current Issue

November 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

CGC issues multiple licences in early November

Thursday, November 6, 2025

The Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) has been busy in the first week of November. The CGC issued four licences on Nov. 1 with three going to companies in Saskatchewan. Eskdale Seed Farm in Leross received a primary elevator licence. This type of licence goes to “an operator of an... Read this article online

Railroads push record grain shipments

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

As Ontario farmers wrap up a season marked by weather extremes and yield variability, Canada’s two major railways—Canadian National Railway Company (CN Rail) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC)—are reporting strong performance in moving corn, soybeans, and grain across the... Read this article online

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