Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 2/10/17



A shareholder proposal calling for Sanderson Farms Inc. to phase out the use of medically important antibiotics for growth promotion and disease prevention in its poultry operations failed at the company's annual meeting on Thursday.

The proposal had been filed by As You Sow, an Oakland, Calif.-based environmental and social advocacy organization. Sanderson management had recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal.

Sanderson's continued use of antibiotics for disease prevention — not growth promotion — is part of the company's consumer marketing program. Its message is that the advantages of antibiotic-free poultry are overblown, and that such programs serve mostly to give poultry processors a reason to hike prices.

The proposal did garner support from about 30 percent of Sanderson's shareholder votes, according to As You Sow's environmental health program manager, Austin Wilson. That is a "huge number ... for a proposal that recommends a specific course of action," he said. "We think it's a pretty big deal."

Sanderson executives were not immediately available for comment. A news release posted to the company's website simply noted that the proposal had been rejected.

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