US: Managing ‘Black Gold’: animal manure and antibiotic resistance
Photo: Scot Nelson / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Food Safety News: Many farmers refer to manure as “black gold” and rightly so because it adds nutrients to the soil, which helps crops grow and be more productive.
In earlier times, before the advent of synthetic fertilizers, crop farmers would often buy a cow solely for the manure it would produce and use the manure for fertilizer. In modern times, many farmers still rely on manure — oftentimes raw manure — to improve their soil and boost productivity.
But the question arises: With the widespread use of antibiotics in animal agriculture, are these antibiotics getting into our food through the manure spread on cropland, or even through irrigation water?