USDA awards funds to support rural veterinary services

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The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced Nov. 21, 2017, that it has awarded 13 grants to support rural veterinary services and relieve shortages of veterinarians in parts of the United States.

This is the second round of awards under the new Veterinary Services Grant Program. The AVMA was instrumental in pushing Congress to authorize and fund the program.

"Rural veterinary practitioners address a variety of unique challenges related to the health and welfare of agricultural animals, public health concerns, and managing their practices," said Sonny Ramaswamy, PhD, NIFA director, in the announcement about the awards. "This program offers incentives to these types of practitioners, students, and educators, empowering the veterinary workforce with specialized skills to enhance services in the field."

The Veterinary Services Grant Program supports two funding categories. Education, Extension, and Training projects are open to universities and state, national, or regional organizations. Rural Practice Enhancement projects are open to for-profit or nonprofit organizations and practices that wish to operate veterinary clinical services in rural areas designated as having a shortage of veterinarians—for example, shortage area KS171 in Osborne and Lincoln counties, Kansas.

Overall, NIFA awarded $2.35 million in grants as follows:

Education, Extension, and Training

  • Auburn University, $237,233, "Recruitment and support of veterinarians in underserved rural areas of Kentucky."
  • University of Florida, $225,643, "Comprehensive aquaculture veterinary medicine training for veterinarians in rural America."
  • University of Hawaii, $169,304, "Transforming all veterinarians into food-animal vets through focused continuing education."
  • Iowa State University, $250,000, "Parasitology residency to support rural areas that are underserved in veterinary medicine."
  • University of Kentucky, $250,000, "Case-based distance learning for food animal veterinarians."
  • North Carolina State University, $240,430, "Training rural mixed animal veterinarians in residue avoidance with support of a new collaborative food animal medicine internship."
  • University of Tennessee, $249,966, "Supporting early career veterinarians in rural practice in Tennessee."

Rural Practice Enhancement

  • Downs Veterinary Clinic, Downs, Kansas, $124,794, "KS171: Mobile food animal veterinary service expansion, Osborne & Lincoln, Kansas counties."
  • West River Veterinary Clinic, Hettinger, North Dakota, $125,000, "West River Veterinary Clinic rural practice enhancement mobile livestock working unit for ND 174."
  • Agrarian Veterinary Services, Buckingham, Virginia, $118,025, "Practice enhancement to improve livestock health, farm profitability, and food safety in VA-124."
  • Allegheny Equine Veterinary Services, Elkins, West Virginia, $123,426, "WV152: Expansion of veterinary services in Preston & Tucker counties, West Virginia."
  • Lodi Veterinary Hospital, Lodi, Wisconsin, $124,996, "Rural veterinary services for shortage area WI165."
  • Mondovi Veterinary Service, Mondovi, Wisconsin, $111,919, "WI175: Expansion of mobile veterinary services in Buffalo County, Wisconsin to beef and dairy producers."

Project details are available at http://jav.ma/VSGPgrants.

Related JAVMA content:

NIFA awards $2.3 million to relieve veterinary shortages (Dec. 1, 2016)

AVMA applauds gains in Farm Bill (April 1, 2014)