Veterinary Sector Spotlight: Industry

Dr. Meggan Hain has long enjoyed a splash of milk in her coffee each morning.

“Got to support the dairy industry,” she joked.

In Dr. Hain’s new job, her support for the dairy industry goes far beyond milk in her coffee.

Dr. Hain is chief veterinary officer of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the lead on the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Program (FARM), which counts among its goals advancing animal welfare standards, supporting dairy producers, and promoting science-based best practices across the dairy industry nationwide.

Dr. Hain is a native of South Africa and had two decades of experience in the U.S. dairy industry before settling into her new role at NMPF.

“I am enjoying the challenge of learning new skills and shifting my perspective to encompass the animal care and animal health challenges across the dairy industry,” she said from her office in Arlington, Virginia.

Prior to joining NMPF earlier this year, Dr. Hain served as the managing veterinarian and animal care specialist at the Wisconsin-based dairy co-op Organic Valley, overseeing the animal health and welfare program for 1,800 farms nationwide.

Dr. Hain received her veterinary degree in 2004 from The Ohio State University. She also attended the University of Pennsylvania for a residency in animal welfare.

During her residency, she admired the single-minded drive and perfectionism that it often takes to be a great researcher, but found that she was much better at taking the concepts and findings of research and translating them into practical and concrete recommendations that could be implemented on farms.

Dr. Hain discovered that she really enjoyed leaning into big-picture challenges in the industry. So, she pivoted from private practice to industry in 2011.

“When I got my first job in industry, it was a great opportunity and well worth the extra work it took to get there,” she said. “I was also in a much better position to meet the needs of the job with both 12 years of private practice experience and the training from my residency in animal welfare. The combination gave me a deep understanding of the science and a practical understanding of farming, which could only be gained from getting your boots dirty and being open to learning.”

The best part of the industry position, Dr. Hain said, was that she got to build an animal welfare program working with farmers, bringing together her veterinary experience and animal welfare knowledge along with the farmers’ experience to create a practical program.

“There is nothing that drives learning and development like knowing that your actions have real implications for the creatures in your care and your clients’ businesses,” she said.

Her experience in industry has led her to the belief that too many young veterinarians and students see private practice as the only thing they can do with a veterinary degree.

Not true, she said.

“To me, a veterinary degree is similar to an engineering degree, which teaches you how to think, it teaches you how to solve problems,” she said. “Veterinarians have a great skill set and deep knowledge, and what you decide to do with that is up to you.”

However, her recommendation to any young veterinarian or veterinary student interested in industry or in animal welfare is to go into practice first.

“Coming out of school, you have an incredible amount of book knowledge, but there is nothing like the ‘School of Hard Knocks’ to teach you what you didn’t know that you didn’t know,” she said.

Dr. Hain is excited to represent the dairy industry in her new role at the NMPF.

“While this role is daunting and I know I have a lot to learn, my prior experience in veterinary practice and working in industry has given me a good grounding and a wide network of incredibly knowledgeable veterinarians and farmers whom I can lean on,” she said. “(I hope to) bring together as many great minds as I can to help to answer the pressing questions facing the industry.”

David Burger is a freelance writer based in Northbrook, Illinois.