Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 12/11/19

U.S. sales of medically important antibiotics for farm animals climbed higher in 2018, ending a steady three-year decline as the FDA has tried to clamp down on the overuse of those drugs in livestock production, according to new data posted by the agency on Tuesday. Overall, sales increased by 9 percent, driven by greater sales of antibiotics for swine and cattle, while dropping for poultry by more than 16 percent, writes Pro Ag's Catherine Boudreau.

Despite last year's uptick, FDA said the longer-term trend shows that federal efforts to curb antibiotic use are having an impact. Sales in 2018 were down by 38 percent compared with 2015, which was the peak year of antibiotics distribution.

The bigger picture: To accurately assess the agency's ongoing efforts, the data should be put in context with other information, said Steven Solomon, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, in a statement. This includes actual on-farm use, animal demographics, animal health and rates of antimicrobial resistance.

FDA lacks some of that data, which makes it difficult to know what is driving the increase in antibiotic sales, said Karin Hoelzer, a senior officer of health programs at Pew Charitable Trusts. For example, the agency is helping fund projects that collect data on the antibiotics being used on poultry, swine, dairy and cattle farms and feedlots. The poultry industry published a report earlier this year.