Justin Welsh, DVM, executive director of U.S. livestock technical services at Merck Animal Health

This was originally published in the Oklahoman

America is facing a food system shortage. Across rural communities, livestock veterinarians are the new endangered species. Farmers and ranchers are losing access to the experts they need to keep their animals healthy and our food supply safe.
 
More than 500 U.S. counties (1) across 46 states are federally designated veterinary shortage areas. Just 1.3% (2) of registered veterinarians specialize in food animal practice. This frontline workforce is fraying at a time when U.S. farms produce over 94% (3) of all red meat and poultry Americans consume.
 
Addressing this growing concern will require sustained industry investment in education that makes veterinary careers more accessible, in recruitment efforts that prioritize rural areas, and in hands-on training that adequately prepares the next generation of food animal professionals.
 
Food animal veterinarians are the unsung heroes of American agriculture. They do more than deliver calves or conduct routine check-ups. They inspect livestock, administer vaccines, and provide critical guidance on herd health. They support not just animal welfare but the viability of family farms, local economies, and the safety of the food on our tables.
 
Yet the United States has lost 90% (4) of food animal veterinarians since the 1950s. And the number of these critical vets continues to decline, thanks to a mix of economic and structural pressures.
 
For one, the cost of veterinary education is prohibitive for many Americans. New graduates leave school with an average debt load of around $150,000 (5) For those called to food animal practice, that financial burden is often compounded by lower pay (6) than they could expect to earn in clinics that focus on companion animals.
 
Then there’s the nature of the work. Rural veterinarians have to travel long distances (7) to reach clients, haul equipment through all kinds of weather, and face physical strain (8) from handling large animals. They’re often on call (9) both nights and weekends. The job is meaningful but exacting, especially for new practitioners.
 
The result is a dwindling workforce. Many new veterinarians opt for the relative financial stability and predictability of urban practice, while older food animal practitioners retire late in their careers without successors. Fewer professionals are left to care for the hundreds of millions of animals on U.S. farms.
 
For farmers, this creates impossible choices: delay care, attempt procedures without proper training, or watch helplessly as animals suffer and operations become less productive. These aren’t just emotional losses. They threaten the survival of farms and ranches. And when they falter, so can the rural communities that depend on them.
 
The consequences ripple outward to grocery stores, school cafeterias, and dinner tables. When veterinary oversight is compromised, it becomes harder to contain the spread of foodborne pathogens like Salmonella, brucellosis, and E. coli (10). Roughly 9 million (11) Americans now fall ill from contaminated food each year — a number that could soar if we fail to restore the frontline of livestock care.
 
The shortage also could limit our ability to tackle emerging diseases in animal populations, which often spread quickly through modern supply chains, and in some cases, jump to humans. Early detection and response require having trained veterinarians on the ground. Without them, our first line of defense weakens, and the risk to food security and public health grows.
 
We cannot rebuild the rural veterinary workforce overnight. But there are several things we can do to help overcome this challenge.
 
Loan repayment and scholarship programs are already making an impact by lowering financial barriers to the veterinary profession. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program offers up to $40,000 per year (12)for students who commit to working in shortage areas after graduation. My employer, Merck Animal Health, has awarded scholarships and grants to veterinary students, which totaled over $1.5 million in 2024 alone. In July, the company partnered with the Farm Journal Foundation (13) to expand its online educational hub, which features learning modules designed to help students succeed in veterinary careers.
 
There’s room for more public- and private-sector initiatives like these.
 
Recruitment strategies also need to evolve. Students from rural backgrounds are more likely to return to and serve their home communities. Veterinary schools must do more to identify and support (14) these students — perhaps through partnerships with community colleges and targeted outreach in underserved areas.
 
Equally important is improving the training of future veterinarians. Increasing access to hands-on, experiential and virtual learning (15) can equip students with the skills and confidence they need to succeed from day one as practitioners.
 
Revitalizing rural veterinary care isn’t just about filling vacancies — it’s about ensuring the vitality of communities and protecting our nation’s food supply. By investing in the next generation of livestock veterinarians, we can do just that.
 
[1] American Veterinary Medical Association. (2024, June 20). NIFA, LifeStock partner to promote federal programs addressing veterinary shortages. AVMA. https://www.avma.org/news/nifa-lifestock-partner-promote-federal-programs-addressing-veterinary-shortages
[2] Harvey, J. (2024, June 24). Federal incentive for food animal veterinarians paused. VIN News. https://news.vin.com/default.aspx?Id=12679244&f5=1&pid=210
[3] Felix, A. (2024, March 10). Made in the USA? Proposed rule clarifies grocery meat labels. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/meat-usa-label-usda-290b54baa34844011c71d7ef4b4e046f
[4] National Conference of State Legislatures. (2023, July 24). Large animal veterinary shortage. NCSL. https://www.ncsl.org/environment-and-natural-resources/large-animal-veterinary-shortage
[5] American Veterinary Medical Association. (2024, April 17). Chart of the month: Good news on student debt. AVMA. https://www.avma.org/blog/chart-month-good-news-student-debt
[6] Miranda, M. (2023, August 16). Crisis: America’s shortage of large-animal veterinarians. AGDAILY. https://www.agdaily.com/livestock/crisis-americas-shortage-large-animal-veterinarians/
[7] National Conference of State Legislatures. (2023, July 24). Large animal veterinary shortage. NCSL. https://www.ncsl.org/environment-and-natural-resources/large-animal-veterinary-shortage
[8] Florida Veterinary Medical Association. (2023, April 26). From farm to table: Life as a food animal veterinarian. FVMA. https://fvma.org/from-farm-to-table-life-as-a-food-animal-veterinarian/
[9] Steele, S. G., Cribb, A. E., & Tuke, J. (2021). On-call duties: The perceived impact on veterinarians’ job satisfaction, well-being and personal relationships. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8, 746723. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.746723
[10] Schultz, U., & Wieler, L. H. (2019). Vaccines against diseases transmitted from animals to humans: A one health paradigm. Vaccine, 37(36), 4753–4755. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.11.060
[11] Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration. (2024, January 24). Foodborne illness source attribution estimates for 2022 for Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter using multi-year outbreak surveillance data, United States (IFSAC Annual Report 2022). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/ifsac/php/data-research/annual-report-2022.html
[12] National Institute of Food and Agriculture. (n.d.). Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program. U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/veterinary-medicine-loan-repayment-program
[13] Farm Journal Foundation. (2024, January 9). FJF partners with the Merck Foundation to extend rural veterinary workforce solutions program. https://www.farmjournalfoundation.org/post/fjf-partners-with-the-merck-foundation-to-extend-rural-veterinary-workforce-solutions-program
[14] Berent, K., Palica, A., Stebelski, A., Pomorska-Mól, M., Koźlik, K., Jaworski, Z., & Pejsak, Z. (2023). Effectiveness of rural internships for veterinary students to combat veterinary workforce shortages in rural areas. BMC Veterinary Research, 19, 83. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-023-03615-w
[15] University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. (2023, October 18). FAVeMedS program cultivates new generation of food animal veterinarians. https://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/favemeds-program-cultivates-new-generation-of-food-animal-veterinarians/