We are dedicated to raising healthy pigs, so we can deliver wholesome pork to our families and yours. Our veterinary team develops a total care plan designed to keep our pigs healthy. This plan includes keeping our barns clean, feeding our pigs a balanced, nutritious diet and immunizing our pigs, as well as the selective use of antibiotics.
Antibiotic Use at Seaboard Foods: The Basics
At Seaboard Foods, we use antibiotics for three main reasons
To treat a sick animal when diagnosed
To control the spread of disease among pigs housed together if several pigs have shown signs of illness
To prevent the spread of sickness in our herds where there may have been exposure or sickness is likely to occur
We administer antibiotics through water, medicated feed and needle-free injection.
Our Commitment to Responsible Antibiotic Use
We go the extra mile to ensure the safe and smart use of antibiotics on our farms.
Preserving the efficacy of antibiotics is incredibly important to us, so we limit our use of antibiotics that are used in both human and animal health (medically important antibiotics).
We do not use medically important antibiotics for human health to promote growth or for feed efficiency in our animals.
We maintain detailed records of all antibiotics used on our farms and adhere to (and often exceed) the mandated withdrawal times.
We closely follow guidance to ensure proper dosages and use antibiotics sparingly,
at specific times in the animal’s life.
Keeping Our Pigs Healthy is a Team Effort
Everyone at Seaboard Foods has a role to play in ensuring the health and safety of our pigs, from our veterinarians and the many farm employees who work daily with our pigs, to the folks who operate our feed facilities and those who process our pork. Because we are connected across every aspect of raising our pigs and making our pork, we are constantly sharing knowledge so we are doing better by knowing better, every step of the way.