Livestock experts have issued a direct warning to farmers: stop using antibiotics indiscriminately on food animals, Daily Trust reports.

The warning targets a practice that remains common across many farming systems — reaching for antibiotics without veterinary diagnosis, without a prescription, or without observing withdrawal periods. The experts framed the issue as one of animal health, farm economics, and public health at once.

What does indiscriminate use actually mean?

In the reporting by Daily Trust, the experts describe indiscriminate use as any antibiotic administration that bypasses professional veterinary oversight. That covers several patterns seen routinely in the field:

• Self-medication of herds and flocks without a veterinarian's diagnosis
• Use of antibiotics as growth promoters or routine preventives rather than to treat confirmed infection
• Failure to follow prescribed dosages or complete treatment courses
• Ignoring withdrawal periods before milk or meat enters the food chain

Each of these behaviors, the experts note, creates conditions where bacteria encounter sublethal drug concentrations — the classic driver of resistance selection.

Why the food-animal sector carries the heaviest stake

The warning lands hardest on livestock producers. Food animals receive the majority of the world's antimicrobial volume by animal mass, and residues or resistant bacteria from farms can move into the human food supply. For a dairy farmer, a missed withdrawal period means contaminated milk. For a poultry operation, routine prophylactic dosing means resistance developing in the flock that later blocks first-line treatments.

The experts' core message to producers is straightforward: antibiotics are a treatment tool, not a management substitute. Poor biosecurity, overcrowding, and inadequate nutrition create the infection pressure that farmers then try to suppress with drugs. Fixing husbandry reduces the need for the drugs in the first place.

What should change at the farm gate?

The recommendations reported in the warning align with standard antimicrobial stewardship principles already promoted by veterinary authorities worldwide:

• Involve a veterinarian before treatment begins — diagnosis first, drug second
• Use antibiotics only when a bacterial infection is confirmed or strongly suspected
• Follow the prescribed dose, route, and duration exactly
• Respect withdrawal periods for milk, meat, and eggs
• Vaccinate and improve biosecurity to cut disease pressure at the source

For veterinarians in food-animal practice, the warning reinforces their role as gatekeepers. Every prescription is a decision about how long current drug classes stay effective — for animals and for the people who treat them.

The public-health dimension

Antimicrobial resistance does not respect the farm gate. Resistant pathogens selected in livestock can reach humans through food, direct contact, and environmental pathways such as manure runoff. When resistant strains circulate, clinicians lose first-line options in human medicine too.

That is why the experts frame farmer behavior as a shared-responsibility issue. The decision made at the barn level — whether to dose responsibly or reach for the bottle without diagnosis — feeds into a resistance problem that human hospitals then have to manage.

What happens next

The experts' warning, as reported by Daily Trust, adds to sustained pressure for tighter antimicrobial use in livestock systems. Expect continued emphasis on veterinary oversight, responsible-use training for producers, and stewardship as a core expectation of food-animal practice rather than an optional add-on.