NIFA awards $3.8M to address food animal veterinary shortages

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recently announced 22 grants totaling $3.8 million had been awarded to help remedy the growing shortage of food animal veterinarians, especially in rural communities.

The AVMA was instrumental in pushing Congress to create and fund the program, which was authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. The first grants were announced in 2016.

The funding is part of an ongoing effort by federal and state governments and a host of stakeholders to address a critical and worsening shortage of food animal veterinarians. As of fiscal year 2025, the USDA has designated a record 243 veterinary shortage areas across 46 states, primarily in rural and livestock-producing regions.

Of the 86,251 veterinarians working in clinical practice in 2024, just 3.4% (3,424) worked in food animal practice, 5.2% (5,282) in mixed practice, and 3.9% (3,979) in equine practice, according to AVMA data.

NIFA's Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is one of several initiatives to increase the numbers of veterinarians working in these important areas and also retain the current workforce. VSGP supports rural food animal veterinary clinics and education and training for veterinarians, veterinary students, and veterinary technicians.

Specifically, eight grants for education, extension, and training (EET) were awarded along with 14 grants for rural practice enhancement (RPE).

EET grants fund education and training programs at AVMA Council on Education-accredited veterinary colleges and by professional organizations to build specialized skills for current and future veterinarians and veterinary technicians. RPE grants provide up to $125,000 per project to rural veterinary clinics in designated shortage areas to purchase equipment, support staffing, and improve operations for food animal veterinary services.

Among the EET grant recipients, each of which received $250,000, is Colorado State University for a project implementing livestock-focused education in high school and veterinary curricula using virtual reality.

Grants went to another seven educational projects:

• "Partnering with communities to enhance rural veterinary experiences in a DVM training program," Louisiana State University
• "Developing a post-doctorate in food animal medicine and surgery program," Texas Tech University
• "Veterinary Student Selectives: Collaborative learning in food and fiber animal medicine," University of Arizona
• "Training veterinarians as stewards of honey bee health in the heartland of the Eastern U.S. honey bee industry," University of Georgia
• "Enhancement of livestock veterinary education and livestock extension," University of Alaska-Fairbanks
• "Preparing food animal-focused veterinary diagnostic pathologists," Iowa State University
• "A collaborative effort to recruit veterinary students and retain food and large animal veterinary practitioners in veterinary shortage situations," University of Kentucky with Auburn University

Grants also went to the following 14 rural practices:

• Sage Creek Veterinary, Wall, South Dakota
• Hoxie Veterinary Service, Hoxie, Kansas
• Camellia City Animal Hospital, McComb, Mississippi
• Zook Veterinary Services, Waynoka, Oklahoma
• Mid-Valley Veterinary Hospital, Orland, California
• Lawson Veterinary Services, Harrah, Oklahoma
• Rolling Hills Veterinary Service, Cascade, Iowa
• Family Veterinary Services, Monticello, Iowa
• Blue Mountain Dairy Veterinary Services, East Ryegate, Vermont
• Rocking KM Veterinary Service, Council Grove, Kansas
• Boonesboro Animal Clinic, Winchester, Kentucky
• Indianola Veterinary Clinic, Indianola, Iowa
• Bovine Veterinary Solutions, Maricopa, Arizona
• Dr. Rachel W. McCurdy Veterinary Services, Morton, Mississippi

Details about the educational projects are available here, and details about the grants to rural practices are available here.