A U.K.-wide network bringing together farmers, veterinarians, industry, researchers and policymakers has secured new investment to turn the priorities identified by the agrifood sector into practical action on antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The Antimicrobial Resistance in Agrifood Systems Transdisciplinary (AMAST) Network, involving Dr. Andrew Desbois from the University of Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture, will begin a new five-year program focused on developing and testing practical approaches to antimicrobial stewardship across U.K. food production.
Desbois will provide leadership on aquaculture and alignment of activities with the U.K. National Action Plan on AMR.
“The U.K. aquaculture sector, including salmon and trout producers, have performed particularly strongly in reducing antibiotic usage,” he said. “This new funding allows us to consider the international context more thoroughly because AMR is a global challenge that requires coordinated action. It means we can go even further across the agrifood sectors, continuing conversations as a trusted partner with producers, veterinarians, regulators, policymakers and others.”
AMAST is one of 18 research and innovation projects that will receive a share of GBP54million (US$71.6 million) from a joint U.K. government and UKRI investment to tackle a range of biosecurity threats, such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Since AMAST was established in 2024, more than 250 members from farming, veterinary practice, industry, government and academia have collectively helped identify where further progress towards effective antimicrobial stewardship is needed and what gets in the way.
AMAST is one of 18 research and innovation projects that will receive a share of £54million from a joint UK government and UKRI investment to tackle a range of biosecurity threats, such as antimicrobial resistance.
Since AMAST was established in 2024, more than 250 members from farming, veterinary practice, industry, government and academia have collectively helped identify where further progress towards effective antimicrobial stewardship is needed and what gets in the way.
The network has worked directly with different sectors rather than starting with predetermined research questions, building shared priorities around animal health, antimicrobial use, diagnostics, data, behavior and the environment. The network’s growth and its emphasis on trusted cross-sector relationships are reflected in the funded proposal.
Focus areas
U.K. agriculture has already made major progress in reducing antimicrobial use while protecting animal health and productivity. The new program will focus on some of the harder remaining challenges and on turning evidence and sector experience into approaches that can work in everyday practice.
AMAST Phase 2, Cultivating mindsets and practices for antimicrobial stewardship in agrifood systems, will concentrate around three connected areas:
- Pigs: working with farmers, veterinarians and advisers on farms facing sustained disease and antimicrobial-use challenges, using swine dysentery as a model to connect better diagnostics, biosecurity, farm management and decision-making
- Ruminants: putting the U.K. Ruminant Antibiotic Stewardship Roadmap into practice. Led by the Royal Veterinary College with RCVS Knowledge, Royal Holloway University of London and the Royal Agricultural University, this work will co-design trusted ways to collect and use antimicrobial-use data so farmers and veterinarians can understand their own use, benchmark progress and make informed stewardship decisions
- Across agrifood: identifying approaches that work across livestock, aquaculture, gamebirds and crops, and bringing international experience into U.K. stewardship.
Across all three areas, the team will also address environmental aspects of AMR, including antimicrobial residues in manure, soil and water. It will train the new generation of early-career researchers and set up an international expert panel to share U.K. learning globally.
AMAST is led by Dr. Matthew Gilmour at the Quadram Institute, with co-directors Dr. K. Marie McIntyre and Professor Alex Hughes at Newcastle University. The program brings together researchers from 13 organizations alongside veterinary, farming, industry and government partners.
Looking to the future
“U.K. agriculture has already made major progress on antibiotic stewardship. The next gains will not come from simply telling farmers and vets to use less; they will come from solving the real problems that still drive antimicrobial use: disease pressure, availability of alternative medicines, diagnostic uncertainty, data gaps, economics and trust,” Gilmour said. “AMAST brings the people who deal with those challenges every day together with researchers and policymakers to design solutions that work in practice, and creates space for learning to flow across sectors. This investment lets us be part of the One Health approach at the heart of the U.K.'s National Action Plan on AMR, while protecting animal health and keeping antimicrobials effective for the future.”
The project brings together 13 research organizations: CABI, Cranfield University, The James Hutton Institute, Newcastle University, Quadram Institute, Royal Agricultural University, Royal Holloway University of London, Royal Veterinary College, Scotland’s Rural College, and the Universities of Cambridge, Leeds, Leicester and Stirling.
