“Dairy farmers should consider adding a blend of essential oils to the diet of calves," says Michelle Gouws, who recently obtained her Master's degree in Animal Science at Stellenbosch University (SU). She studied the growth, overall health, and performance of the calves to determine the benefits of a diet containing monensin or a blend of essential oil compounds (i.e. a control group; one that was fed a liquid diet containing a garlic extract and a solid diet with a blend of essential oil compounds; and one that was fed a diet containing monensin. She did, however, find that monensin and essential oil compounds had an impact on the level of antibiotic-resistant E. coli. “To prevent an increase in multidrug-resistant E. coli on farms, this study suggests that dairy farmers should avoid feeding calves monensin, but rather add essential oil compounds to calf diets," she explained.