Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for year three of the grant project contined to be the farmers in Southeastern Ohio. I continued to grow the practice by working for additional larger farms with over 200 sheep, 85 goats, and 250 cows. I continued to reach out to 4-H and young graduates to mentor them. Two young ladies rode with me and were mentored on farms, especially during this spring's busy breeding season. Due to Covid 19 and the lack of open meeting places to host a Producer Meeting, I was not able to have any producer meetings in 2020 and up to this point in 2021. In lieu of these meetings, I focused on discussing new products and services offered while at herd checks, and sent out a spring and summer newsletter with new ideas and topics to discuss during herd visits. Over the course of the grant period, I reached out to new clients via newsletters, prospecting on farms, and inviting them to producer meetings. Multiple students were mentored yearly. These students ranged from 13-25 years old. Changes/Problems:Year 3 has been another tough year. Covid 19 has been challenging and has caused some changes in my practice. As discussed above, my office help stopped showing up in November 2020. I made many attempts to get her to come back to work, or at least to talk to me, and she chose not to. I continued to do work for her family farm and saw her many times in the next few months. She is still unemployed according to her father. I completed the office work during calving season as I was slowly training another person to help with billing. I continue to strive for a practice that focuses on preventive medicine and consulting on farms. I've moved from some smaller farms requiring fire engine medicine, allowing me to pick up a few more larger, production-oriented farms. This has been a challenge as some people still can't figure out the need for prevention and are continuing to have the same problems year after year. As discussed in last year's Problems section, I needed to purchase a new veterinary box as my older insert was falling apart. I purchased a new box in November 2020, and it has been awesome to work out of in a safer manner. My medications and supplies are much more accessible and easier to reach. My old box will be donated to a newly graduated veterinarian at some point in the near future. I am hopeful that the rest of 2021 and beginning of 2022 are times of growth and positivity. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I was again asked to sit on the 2021 USDA NIFA grant panel to select recipients. I've continued to work with a veterinary coach one on one to determine the scope of practice I desire and how to best achieve the goals I've set. In August 2021, I took part in a Veterinary Medical Mastermind in Madison, WI that was focused on professional growth and development and personal growth as a veterinarian. I have been consulting since November 2020 for a startup Career Technical school that is developing a Large Animal Science Program. I was asked to accompany my largest farm on a Beef Council Video shoot in the fall of 2020 - I was interviewed about the value a veterinarian provides to the farm and the increased health of the cattle because of their VCPR. Our video has been shared on YouTube and by the Ohio Cattlemen's Association and the Ohio Beef Council. As discussed above, I was able to attend an AABP/AETA Small Ruminant Laparoscopic AI course in June 2021. Following this, I was asked to help one of the instructors with a day of Lap AI in goats on one of his farms. I was able to perform the procedure under his supervision, helping to hone my skills and boost my confidence. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Due to Covid 19, I was not able to have producer meetings in 2020/2021 to this point. I was able to send out a few newsletters during the past year but will admit this was a year of being in constant survival mode as a practitioner, farmer, and employer. I hope to continue writing and distributing relevant newsletters to clients and potential clients in 2021 and beyond. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1 of utilizing the chute and tub on farms has gone well. I have taken the chute to several farms, and several farmers have utilized it on their own. I did run into a major hiccup when two of the farms returned it with all the cotter pins missing (massive safety hazard for moving it) and the chariot to set the chute on bent. At that point, I had to review who would have access to the chute and under what circumstances. In total for this grant period, approximately 750 head of cattle on 5 farms were run through the chute. Two farmers visited where the chute is kept looking it over and decide if they would purchase one of their own. Multiple additional farms have realized the importance of having proper facilities and some have begun to upgrade their own chutes/tubs and catch pens. I was able to purchase a new computer, printer and iPad in late August/September of 2020. These have been helpful to allow me to scan in my daily sheets and upload them into each client's file post farm call to assist in better medical records. I'm still doing paper billing on farms, as I usually have records hand-written with herd health data/results or vaccine/physical exam information. That system is working well and is providing the client with a copy of their billing on site, so I've kept to the system for now. Hopefully I can upgrade to billing via the iPad in the next year or so to continue to streamline and go 'paper light' for the practice. In November, my office assistant stopped coming to work. She had multiple tasks to be completed from home and stopped working on them too. I reached out to her via phone calls, text messages and emails multiple times and never had any luck getting her to show up. I eventually asked for my supplies and folders of work back from her and severed ties. That was going into calving season, which is my busiest and most stress-filled time of year. I continued to do her work for several months while training a new part time person to help with inputting billing and helping with invoices at the end of the month. It was very disheartening to have spent almost two years training her and working side by side with her, just to have her stop showing up. I am unsure if it was Covid related, or if she just chose to stay home and not work. To my knowledge, she is still unemployed almost a year later. Goal 3 was to continue offering client meetings. Those were discontinued due to Covid 19. I have begun discussing plans with a tech service veterinarian, a drug company, and a distributor to host a meeting about minerals and liver biopsies for clients in the fall of the 2021. I've continued to write a newsletter every few months to distribute to clients and prospective clients, making them aware of new products and services, and also to give them a heads up on current backorder situations. It has been a challenging year and a half with backorders on common medications such as penicillin and lidocaine, the discontinuation of necessary vaccines and inability to get other common vaccines. It's been hard to have a clinic focused on preventive medicine when you're unable to purchase preventives and vaccines to offer to clients. Goal 4 was to begin offering IVF services in the next 3-5 years. This has been put on hold indefinitely due to lack of interest and a saturated market of veterinarians providing the service that clients are already established with. I have only been asked to flush two cows in the past 27 months. This is mostly due to some more unemployed clients doing less advanced reproductive work. I continue to implant frozen embryos and have been honing my skills even more by purchasing some newer style implant guns and sheaths. This past year, new clients have been asking for Laparoscopic AI in small ruminants. This service is something I knew very little about. After discussing with several veterinarians offering this service successfully in their practice, I decided to attend a four-day training this summer. I have since purchased equipment to begin offering Lap AI to goat and sheep clients and have my first session scheduled for later September. This may not be the same as IVF in cattle but is a trend that a different subset of clients desire and is a niche that I hope to fill. I am in communication with two cattle farmers who are interested in opening a bovine embryo transfer recipient facility that would utilize my veterinary services and provide outside clients a place to purchase recipients or pregnancies. This is in its infancy, and we are collecting data for needs for a facility, input costs and how to market and charge for the services we are planning.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:During Grant Period 2, Dr. Mowrer hosted a Fall Producer Meeting at the county fairgrounds that reached approximately 90 producers and 4-H members. Topics presented included 'Calving School' by an OSU faculty member and Autogenous Vaccines with an emphasis on Pinkeye prevention by an industry representative. The meeting was well attended and targeted some non-clients and clients who have issues with the above topics and were able to learn from the presenting speakers. Dr. Mowrer mentored 4-H students while on farms, allowing them to help with small tasks with their fair animals. She was also asked to be a part of a pre-fair health check that all horse exhibitors were required to take part in. The chute and tub system purchased in Grant Period 1 was utilized many times by clients on their farms for general vaccines, breeding and palpation work. Changes/Problems:Again in year 2, I struggled a bit with help. My office assistant is a great help, but I'm determining that she's not as much of a self starter as I anticipated, and she struggles to follow-through with some tasks. She is the best help I was able to find, so I am maintaining her as an employee and trying to spend more time guiding and training her. She hasn't stepped up to the role of ordering medications, maintaining the inventory (her most important task) or packing instruments and running the autoclave. I am still doing these tasks, which is ok, but takes time out of management or running calls. I am continuing to take time from the weekly schedule to work alongside her to input inventory into our software program, set prices, and complete billing. I am encouraged by her positive demeanor that we will continue to work together to build the office work into a more useful aspect of the practice. Due to COVID 19 and the state of our local economy, I have shifted the course of my practice to focus less on advanced reproductive technologies in the future, and more on reaching clients with a herd health/preventive medicine platform as I have been in past years. For this reason, I am needing to purchase a safer and more reliable veterinary box, will be purchasing scales as described in the proposal, and hope to continue to update equipment and service new equipment. I have been disheartened by the area's response to demanding veterinary services for emergencies only. I have had multiple farmers who are not clients show up at my house at odd hours demanding to become a client and refusing to work with the standards I've set forth in my practice business model. The demanding and arrogant nature of some farmers is challenging to work with, as I am a female and they try to push me around. I have been maintaining my business model and offer to service their farms with safety and prevention as the utmost goals. Many have refused to comply. These challenging people are causing burnout to set in, as I am working long days with irregular hours for my own clients already. I am continuing to work to help the area to progress from antiquated veterinary expectations into a healthier, safer working relationship. I am encouraged by the terrific clients who I am seeing thrive with their livestock, and am sad for those who refuse to work alongside a veterinarian. This area is challenging and difficult. It is my home area, so I will continue to work with them to the best of my abilities throughout this grant commitment. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I was asked to volunteer as a reviewer for the 2020 NIFA Grant review process. I was asked to be a presenter for an Ohio Women In Agriculture meeting in March with a topic of "When to call your veterinarian and What is a VCPR?" - The meeting was cancelled due to COVID 19. In September 2019, I participated in a Veterinary Mastermind at AABP. There has been one on one coaching and followup as a group since, which has helped immensely with personal development and growth. I participated in a small Mastermind during COVID 19 that focused on continuing to grow our practices in the midst of turmoil. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Newsletters are written and sent to clients via email and mail. This has been a good way to disseminate information to clients and community members. Discussion on farms has been directed to include mentioning use of the chute and tub, development of vaccine and preventive medicine programs, and to share information with producers unable to attend the meetings. Newsletters and timely resources are handed out to farmers at farm calls. I have been asking for input from producers on the best way to get information to them. I've hoped to cut costs by using email, but most farmers still require mail to be sent. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In Year 3, I hope to continue using my chute and tub to work cattle. This is something I cannot stress enough as a necessity on farms. There are some farms that it is physically impossible to get my working facilities into due to low barns, no corrals, mud, hills and horrible rutted pastures. For this reason, I have continued to discuss improvements on farms so that facilities can be installed or brought in for ease and safety of handling cattle. I have started to refuse to work cattle that are not adequately restrained, as I have been injured too many times to want to keep getting hurt. I have not purchased a scale yet, as most farms do not have a flat place for a scale to be installed in the alley. I hope to purchase one this year, to be used as many places as possible. This will help decrease error in medication adminstration that is possible with eye-balling weights on cattle. The scope of my practice has changed dramatically in the past year. Our area is a huge coal-mining area and the largest mine in the area is now in bancruptcy. This has affected me in many ways - I have a large accounts receivable from the coal company farm that I have seen no payment on in almost a year and over half of my clients are employed by the mines. Many of these people are working part time now, have gone from salary to hourly wages, or have been laid off altogether. Another large sector of our clients once benefited heavily from the oil and gas industry. Prior to COVID 19, the industry was slowing here. At this time, payments are very small, as energy needs are waning. For these reasons, my practice has suffered. I am still gaining new clients, most of whom are making it clear they anticipate Emergency only services and will do nothing to prevent or work on their herd health. I am struggling with these clients, as this goes against everything my practice stands for. I will try to continue to educate them to the best of my abilities. During COVID 19, I began to look at my business finances. The only loan I had out was for my truck, which was new in 2018. There is no great need for Embryo Transfer or IVF in this area currently, as farm finances aren't there and the work has dried up. I decided to pay my truck off to get rid of the loan and strengthen my financial situation. The veterinary box I purchased used does not fit adequately and is too tall for me to comfortably and safely get into without climbing on the wheels and hoisting myself into the box. I will be purchasing a new box that will open with gull-wings which will provide more useful and available space, while being safer to access medications and supplies. I hope to continue working with my office assistant to get more hours and train her to do more tasks. The 80 hour work-weeks of the spring and early summer took a toll and I was rarely able to work alongside her to train her to do more work. I am trying to balance my schedule as best possible, but calving season is a challenging time with many nights out until 9-10 pm and mornings starting at 5-6 am. I think that purchasing newer computers and an iPad will help with billing as I anticipated in my grant proposal. A new printer will allow better printing of invoices, scanning of daily sheets off farms, and more quality printing of newsletter and flyers for clients.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Year 2 of the Grant Period has been challenging for Stonehouse Veterinary Service and clients, as for everyone. I have continued to utilize my chute and tub with alley on mutliple farms throughout the year, allowing more cattle to be vaccinated and worked for fall and spring work. Many farmers are very skeptical and are refusing to put the time and effort into herd health and preventive medicine, citing that it is "extra work" and not necessary. This mentality has made growing the practice into these additional herds difficult. I have continued to stress the importance and necessity of herd health and prevention, as this is the backbone of my practice and encompasses my values. I continue to employ a young college graduate as an office person. She has helped to decrease the amount of after hours time I spend on billing, entering payment information and organizing client information after calls. Due to Covid 19, the purchasing of computers this spring was put on hold, and we are just getting our new computers, printer, and iPad on order this summer. This will help us very much, as we will both be able to work in the office together independently, as well as improve our printing abilities. I have not begun electronic billing on farms and continue to use a carbon copy paper system. I am hoping a new iPad will hotspot to my phone in most locations and allow me to begin electronic billing via Vetter with an email receipt, which will cut down on paperwork and time in the office re-entering bills into the computer. Client education is a huge part of my practice and is very important to me on a daily basis. I have a verbal 'welcome pack' that is explained to new clients who wish to use my clinic's services. They are informed of my standards that I uphold as a practitioner and what I expect from them as a client. I have high standards of care, expectations they will attend client meetings and make management and proper treatments and records a priority. This is very new to the area, as lay people are still running veterinary calls in the community, and there is very little to no prevention done. I had one producer's meeting in December, with around 90 people in attendance. This was a helpful meeting, as it discussed Calving problems, what to look for, a timeline for calving, and when to intervene/call the veterinarian. The second speaker discussed Autogenous Vaccines and Pinkeye prevention. Pinkeye is a major issue in our area, costing most farms a significant amount of money yearly. Following this meeting, many producers purchased calving equipment, pinkeye vaccines, and fly control measures to assist in these endeavors. A second meeting was scheduled for April with a focus on immunology and the immune system. This meeting was cancelled due to Covid 19 and has not been rescheduled at this time. We are waiting to see what will happen this fall with Covid 19, and if we are able to hold an in-person meeting. Many of our producers have no or poor internet, so an online meeting would be poorly attended. Expansion of embryo transfer and IVF business is currently on hold due to economics. Our cattlemen are seeing a downturn in employment from coal mining jobs and in farm revenue from oil and gas production decreases. They are holding tighter to their funds and are doing less embryo transfer and IVF. I continue to implant many frozen embryos in the spring, which has helped build my business in the past few years.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Stonehouse Veterinary Service utilized RPE funding in 2018/2019 to reach 86 cattle producers and 4-H members in October 2018 for a Beef Quality Assurance Training Meeting. In February of 2019, 45 cattlemen attended a meeting on preparing for fly season, utilizing your veterinarian, and VFD information. Throughout the year, youth through 4-H have been mentored while on farms and while students have ridden with Dr. Mowrer. During Grant Period 1 - approximately 5 producers have utilized the chute and tub system that was purchased, including one client who houses the equipment and utilizes it frequently. Changes/Problems:The largest problem I encountered in Year 1 was finding a staff person to work in the office part time. I interviewed multiple people and clearly outlined the job description, pay, and expectations. Two interested individuals accepted the position and then never showed up to work. I became very busy with calving season and consistent 16-hour days for several months before I slowed down enough to begin searching for a more suitable candidate. I hired a client's daughter following her college graduation, and she plans to work for the practice for approximately 16-18 months while applying to medical schools. I had anticipated a much easier search for a part-time staff member. I feel that the person I hired is fantastic for the position as she has alleviated much work and stress from me in the short time she's been here. The updated goal is to have her fully trained in the next few months and to utilize her more in the office as a receptionist prior to the busy times of pregnancy checking and then calving season. I would like to begin searching for her replacement mid-way through Year 2, allowing her to train her successor. There is a culture in the Ohio Valley of not wanting to put money into farms or cattle for any prevention. This has hurt our producers, as calf prices are docked for not being pre-conditioned or having bad eyes. I am working to slowly change the perception that vaccines are not worthwhile and that a veterinarian is only necessary for emergencies. Upon visiting a client for the first time, I discuss my practice philosophies and stress the importance of prevention for the health and well-being of their livestock and for the more efficient and economical use of their finances. This culture is not going to change my goals or how I accomplish them, but has slowed down the progression of the project to some extent. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I was asked to volunteer as a reviewer for the 2019 NIFA Grant review process. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Newsletters are written and sent to clients via email and are posted in local feed mills. This has been a good way to disseminate information to clients and community members. Discussion on farms has been directed to include mentioning use of the chute and tub, development of vaccine and preventive medicine programs, and to share information with producers unable to attend the meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Year 2 is going to entail more use of the chute and tub system to reach more cattle for vaccines and pregnancy checking. The momentum of the chute use is ramping up as more producers have access to it, which is encouraging. I hope that more clients can get use out of the system to handle more cattle safely for us to vaccinate and work on improving herd health on rural farms. I anticipate working with the staff member to increase her hours and train her to run the autoclave, clean and pack surgical instruments, place office and drop-ship orders, and facilitate more efficient lab submissions. She is intelligent and eager to learn and has already lightened my workload, allowing me to focus more on practice growth and planning. As she becomes more proficient and able to work independently, I will purchase a new computer and install necessary software programs for her to work in-house, allowing me to take my laptop and a small printer in the truck with me. I anticipate that I will be able to decrease delayed billing and accounts receivables by doing more billing on farms. In year 2, I'm planning to again have two producer's meetings to educate clients. I have been polling clients on farms on topics that they are interested in learning more about to assist them in raising higher quality cattle. I anticipate the first meeting to be held in late October or early November before the rush and busyness of calving season begins, with the second meeting to be held in the early spring.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During year one of the RPE Grant, I purchased a portable ArrowQuip squeeze chute with palpation cage and a portable tub with 16-foot alley. These have been housed at a client's farm, and we have used them to vaccinate, treat, sort cattle, and safely assist getting calves to nurse on first-time heifers during the winter and spring. We successfully vaccinated and boostered his herd of 150 cows by moving the chute between his farms during the winter months. Having facilities to implement a vaccine program showed a drastic increase in live calves this season - last year he lost 14 calves to scours. This year, he lost zero in a very wet, muddy, cold calving season. During breeding season, the chute and tub have both been used on multiple farms in multiple counties for vaccines, synchronizing, and breeding cows. Clients are appreciative of having a chute to use and have taken care to transport and clean it properly after use. The number of animals through this setup has been approximately 500 - none of those animals come from farms that have vaccinated in the past. Conversations with potential new clients about chute/tub use has provided some leads for new business for the practice, as well. In February, I purchased additional instruments to make several new surgery packs. This enabled me to have multiple packs ready for calving season, where some weeks there are multiple Caesarian sections in a row. I have recently purchased a fully automatic autoclave and am excited to have packs sterilized in a timelier manner. Goal number two for Year 1 of the Grant project was to hire a support staff member. I have hired and am training a college graduate who is applying to Medical School. She comes from a farm and has a strong agricultural background, while being very conscientious and able to follow instructions well. She has been a great help in billing, making forms to use in the office and with clients, and helping with general office organization. I plan to continue to train her to answer the phone and schedule calls so I can have her in the office part time to handle calls, scheduling, and more day to day office tasks. Goal three of Year 1 was to educate clients in preventive health programs. I hosted two producer meetings - the first was in October of 2018 focusing on Beef Quality Assurance Training. The practice invited all clients, had fliers at feed mills, in 4-H newsletters, and in the Soil and Water Newsletter. We had 86 producers in attendance to become BQA Certified. A representative from 4-H Extension and from the Ohio Cattlemen's Association each spoke to attendees as well. In February, the Executive Vice President of AABP spoke to 45 producers on utilizing a veterinarian, necessity of a veterinary-client-patient-relationship, and information on the Veterinary Feed Directive. An entomologist spoke on fly prevention/reduction on beef and dairy farms. The meeting was a success - there was much discussion following, and many clients purchased products discussed to assist in decreasing fly populations on their farms. This has led to less farms having extreme pinkeye in the area.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Presented a Practice Tip at 51st AABP Annual Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, September 15, 2018. "Beginning a Practice from Scratch...in the Wild West of Southeastern Ohio".
- Type:
Books
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Mowrer, Mary E. Rural Practice Startup - Maintaining low overhead while providing exceptional service. AABP Annual Conference Proceedings. Vol 51, No. 2. 2018, Page 256-257.
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