British dairy farmers are reducing their use of antibiotics faster than expected, meeting newly agreed industry targets just months after their introduction.
The latest King Shea Antimicrobial Focus Report shows that antibiotic use on dairy farms continues to decline, with producers already meeting targets set by the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) in November.
The report is based on data from 967 dairy herds across 136 veterinary clinics that utilized the Kingshay Antimicrobial Monitoring Service from 2024 to early 2025.
Average annual total antibiotic use decreased to 12.2 mg/kg PCU, down from 12.7 mg/kg PCU in 2024 and 15.7 mg/kg PCU in 2020, reinforcing the long-term downward trend.
Emma Paddy, agricultural services specialist at Kingshay and co-author of the report, said the figures reflected sustained efforts across the sector. “Industry efforts to reduce antibiotic use are paying off,” she says.
She added: “It is encouraging to see that the latest RUMA targets are already on the way to being met.”
The targets, which apply from 2025 to 2029, include a three-year rolling average reduction in oral tube use in lactating and dry cows, and a requirement to reduce oral antibiotic use in calves by 10% compared to the previous year.
All these thresholds were achieved within the analyzed dataset.
Lactation cow tube usage decreased 41% from 2019 to 0.352 DCDVet, while dry cow tube usage remained below the three-year moving average despite a slight increase over the past year.
The use of oral antibiotics in calves also declined sharply. “The calf oral antibiotic target was also met, with usage reduced by 24% to 1.05mg/kg PCU between 2024 and 2025,” Ms Paddy said.
He said the most notable change was in the use of highly important injectable antibiotics, which had fallen to 0.005 mg/kg PCU, a 98.3% reduction over seven years.
However, the report shows that progress is not uniform across the country, with wide variations across regions and individual herds.
Average antibiotic use was lowest in the South and South East of England at 10.4 mg/kg PCU, compared to 14.9 mg/kg PCU in the North of England.
At the herd level, the contrast was even sharper. The lowest usage quartile averaged 4.1 mg/kg PCU, while the highest usage quartile averaged 24.3 mg/kg PCU.
“This top quartile is really driving up the overall average; the median for the whole herd was just 9.8 mg per kg of PCU,” Ms Paddy said.
He added that just over half of the herd had moved between quartiles compared to the previous year, highlighting how quickly antibiotic use changes in response to health challenges.
“Disease outbreaks can have a rapid impact on numbers, so it is important to continue to pay close attention to detail when adhering to health protocols, even if usage appears low,” she said.
King Shay training consultant and veterinarian Michael Head said monitoring of disease levels was central to further reductions, particularly on high utilization farms.
“People tend to reach for antibiotics, so an effective vaccination strategy is part of that,” he said.
He added that enhanced immunity, genetic advances and improved nutrition are making cattle more resistant to disease and reducing dependence on antibiotics, while benchmarking allows farmers to compare performance and identify where they can make more profits.
Kingshey said new targets have been set for 2029 and maintaining progress will depend on continued focus at the herd level, particularly in areas of highest usage.
