Sanderson shareholder proposal on reducing antibiotic use fails

A shareholder proposal calling for Sanderson Farms Inc. to phase out the use of medically important antibiotics for growth promotion and disease prevention in its poultry operations failed at the company's annual meeting. The proposal had been filed by As You Sow, an Oakland, Calif.-based environmental and social advocacy organization. Sanderson management had recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal. Sanderson's continued use of antibiotics for disease prevention — not growth promotion — is part of the company's consumer marketing program. Its message is that the advantages of antibiotic-free poultry are overblown, and that such programs serve mostly to give poultry processors a reason to hike prices.