On Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 8:14:03 PM UTC-7, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 07 Sep 2017 11:42:09 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

rPer AMuzi:
Plus livestock antibiotics. Excellent payout for the grower;
low cost, faster bigger growth. Eventually you're evolving
some really hardy bugs though...

That's what has been preying on my mind the whole time.

Numbers of animals, tons of antibiotics, and uncontrolled usage time
would seem to make human over-use all but trivial by comparison.

Given the expected consequences of a post-antibiotic era, I can't figure
out why livestock use of antibiotics is not recognized as a major
national security issue.

Only thing I can come up with is money changing hands...

Not only antibiotics but I believe that various hormones are also
used. I read that growth hormones given to cattle produce more lean
beef faster. And time is money :-)

Weight is money. That's why the growth hormones. Cattle are slaughtered pretty much at 14-16 months now. When I was a kid they free-ranged them and slaughtered them at 5 years old. Now all of my relatives are out of farming and ranching. The El Camino Real now runs right through where one cousin had a large Walnut orchard. One more great uncle sold his farm in Salinas and went back to Croatia. Another cousin leases his 40 acres to a factory farm operation in Tracy. But housing is encroaching and there's no telling how long that will last. I really hated the yucky job of milking cows. "Dad, let's not visit Bobby early in the morning."