Antibiotic Data Collection and States Up Minimum Wages

Antibiotic Data Collection and States Up Minimum Wages

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.

**More data are needed on how animal antibiotics are used and on the efficacy of alternatives in order to accelerate the use of antibiotic-free options.

A new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts says the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance have created a growing global threat because the use of antibiotics drives resistance expansion.

The report says alternatives like vaccines, probiotics and prebiotics, play a crucial role in reducing or largely phasing out the use of antibiotics.

**States are leaving the U.S. minimum wage rate in the dust as they lift their own wage floors, while hitting farm and ranch budgets in the process.

Congress last increased the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour eight years ago.

But, in the past two years, some states have unleashed several minimum pay hikes, many of which apply in whole or in part to farms.

Thirty states have set rates at the popular twelve dollars per hour, like here in Washington that hits $12 in 2019 and $13.50 a year later.

**Rural Americans contract cancer less often than their urban counterparts, but are more likely to die from it.

That's according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report highlighting health care challenges faced by rural residents.

A higher percentage of rural residents also contract certain cancers, like those related to tobacco use.

Other factors contributing to the urban-rural disparity is that cancer deaths in rural areas decreased at a slower pace, and that rural areas offer fewer health care options.

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