Sub - therapeutic Antibiotics and the Efficiency of U . S . Hog Farms

Antimicrobial drugs are frequently fed to hogs at sub-therapeutic levels to promote feed efficiency and growth. However, in response to concerns that sub-therapeutic antibiotics (STAs) are promoting the development of antimicrobial drug-resistant bacteria, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently adopted a strategy to phase out antibiotics for such “production uses.” This study uses a stochastic frontier model to estimate the costs to U.S. hog producers of a ban on STAs for growth promotion. To address potential sample selection issues, we employ a recently developed empirical approach that corrects for biases from both observed and unobserved variables. *The authors are economists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or polices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Please direct correspondence to Nigel Key at: [email protected]