Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached by the project was primarily food animal producers in the target area (Otsego county) as well as surrounding areas in Delaware, Chenango and Broome counties. These food animal producers raise a combination of food animals including dairy and beef cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. Dutton Veterinary Services has also been able to reach the general public/consumers through the use of facebook posts and website blog posts about how food animals are cared for and discussions of important veterinary procedures in food animals. Finally, Dutton Veterinary Services was able to collaborate with area veterinarians to provide services to food animals in and around the shortage areas as well as collaborate with a ruminant-only veterinarian to plan for her retirement. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of practice growth and expansion have primarily been disseminated via the practice website and the practice facebook page. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Currently, Dutton Veterinary Services PLLC (DVS) has 375 clients (250% growth over the previous year). The approximatenumber of patients serviced is 1,515 with about 50% of those being food animals (mostly cattle). The remainder is about 30% equine and 20% small animals. DVS has been able to develop a strong caseload of swine patients and is the only vet in the area who will see swine. DVS has experienced excellent growth this year. Additionally, the unexpected passing of predominately food animal veterinarian in the area has directly impacted practice growth. The passing of this individual occured about 1 month previously, so full effects of filling this unexpected void are yet unrealized. Additionally, DVS is partnering with an area food animal veterinarian to purchase her practice as she plans to retire in the spring of 2022. To do so, DVS has covered her emergencies when she is out of town including performing herd health services to her dairy herd clients. This is an exciting opportunity that we plan to capitalize on and at the current rate of growth, DVS plans to add a veterinary associate by spring of 2022. Review of the major goals of the project are outlined below. 1. Use money to buy equipment - Complete - the final equipment to purchase through the grant program were bloodwork machines. These were purchased and installed in late January 2020 for a final purchase price of $8,952. The equipment included an Abaxis Vetscan VS2 chemistry analyzer and an Abaxis HM5 CBC machine as well as the reagents and rotors to process samples. 2. Advanced services - not complete -advanced services have not been established. The primary work done by DVS is emergency and preventative health management. DVS has been gauging interest in advanced services. Several clientshaveexpressed interest in embryo transfer and one other has expressed interest in comprehensive breeding soundness exams on bulls. DVS continues to recommend breeding soundness exams on bulls to help herds be productive. 3. Improvement in animal welfare - complete -several clients who are from urban environments that get animals from auctions require help and education on basic animal husbandry -DVS has treated multiple diseases, many of which are preventable with proper knowledge and care (gastrointestinal parasitism is most common). 4. Establish rural practice - complete -DVS has been established as a business since 2017. The noncompete that inhibited practice growth was over on January 1, 2020. DVS has been able to advertise and complete business in the noncompete area and that has been the largest part of practice growth. 5. Provide externship opportunities - the COVID19 pandemic has severely impacted the abilitly of DVS to provide internship opportunities. However, this summer DVS had several undergraduate students ride along on farm calls, which is a step in the right direction. Expected results (YEAR 2) (from grant proposal): 1. Grow clients to 150 (107 now, plan to reach 150 by December 2020 (6 months behind schedule) -Currently, 4 veterinary practices in and around the shortage area, have been giving potential clients Dutton Veterinary Services information. These practices are overwhelmed with clients and have been happy to pass some on to DVS. 2. Grow livestock served to 1700 (is 265 now, expect to grow another 200 by the end of the year) - this growth has been much slower than expected due to the number of small farms served. On average, farm size is about 10 animals 3. Service radius to 60 miles (current radius is about 50 miles) 4. Grow services with swine clients including pet pigs - completed. DVS sees about 10% porcine patients, including one large farm breeding KuneKune pigs. Expected results (YEAR 3) (from grant proposal): 1. Grow clientele to 225 clients: complete 2. Grow livestock served to 2500: Current livestock served is approximately 720. The descrepency here is due to the number of small farms served. Therefore, client numbers are at expected goals but livestock numbers are not. 3. Grow service radius to 70 miles: Current practice radius is 55miles. Since the noncompete has been up, DVS has experienced the most growth within 40 miles of the practice. That coupled with the unexpected passing of an area large animal vet means that the area nearest to DVS is experiencing an unexpected shortage.
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached by the project was primarily food animal producers in the target area (Otsego county) as well as surrounding areas in Delaware, Chenango and Broome counties. Thesefood animal producers raise a combination of food animals including dairy and beef cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. Additional target audiences were elementary through highschool aged children in local 4H groups and in the local public schools (primarily Walton Central Schools). The audiences were reached through classroom presentations and hands-on demonstrations about animal diseases and common procedures performed in food animals. Dutton Veterinary Services has also been able to reach the general public/consumers through the use of facebook posts and website blog posts about how food animals are cared for and discussions of important veterinary procedures in food animals. Finally, Dutton Veterinary Services was able to collaborate with area veterinarians to provide services to food animals in and around the shortage areas as well as collaborate with a retiring ruminant veterinarian to take some of her case load. Changes/Problems:The global pandemic of Covid-19 has made it difficult to do as much outreach as I wanted to this year. Before the closure of schools and businesses, I did some outreach at an agricultural conference (Jan 2020) and I spoke to 4-Hers and highschool students about common veterinary diseases and procedures. Despite the pandemic, most of my client growth has been in the last 4 months (May through August). So even though there are issues/risks associated with person-to-person contact, I still have been experiencing growth. Therefore, it stands to reason that I would have gained even more clients without the pandemic overshadowing my practice. Additionally, the noncompete reduced my growth rate because it wasn't up until January 1st of 2020. I had anticipated that the noncompete would reduce my practice growth by 25-30%. I underestimated my ability to grow the practice outside of the noncompete area (approximately 30 mile radius). Word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to advertise and it's difficult to use word-of-mouth when my primary sphere of influence is within the noncompete area. However, I have had several clinics begin giving out my name for food animal services as well as a food animal clinician at Cornell. I am optimistic about the future of the practice. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of services and growth of practice have been primarily disseminated through the practice website and the practice facebook page. Dr. Dutton also attended a local agricultural conference to speak with food animal produceres and advertise services in January 2020. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the last reporting period, Dr. Dutton was able to network with one retiring food animal veterinarian and provide support in terms of covering clients in that vet's absence. During the next reporting period, Dr. Dutton intends to keep up this relationship as it has provided quite a few new clients for DVS. Dr. Dutton is anticipating this food animal veterinarian to retire, possibly within the next reporting period and remains poised to take over her case load. Her practice sees only ruminants. Dr. Dutton plans to continue to advertise aggressively, with ads in the local extension newsletters, multiple facebook posts and website blogs to help people gain awareness of practice services. In addition, Dr. Dutton plans to continue educational outreach to local 4H clubs and FFA. DVS would like to provide externship opportunities to vet tech students and veterinary students in the next reporting period. Dr. Dutton plans to develop this program as her practice grows and the current pandemic slows down.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
At the current time, Dutton Veterinary Services (DVS) has 107 clients with 68 of those clients new within the last 8 months. DVS has expanded to serve 485 patients which is the result of a 267% growth over previous years.The food animal percentage of DVSis 64% of new patients this year and 57% of all patients. Food animal patients include cattle (33% of all patients), sheep and goats (10%), swine (10%) and poultry (4%). The remainder is made up of 22% equine and 21% dogs and cats.The major goals of the project are outlined below. 1. Use money to buy equipment - Complete - the final equipment to purchase through the grant program were bloodwork machines. These were purchased and installed in lateJanuary 2020 for a final purchase price of $8,952. The equipment included an Abaxis Vetscan VS2 chemistry analyzer and an Abaxis HM5 CBC machine as well as the reagents and rotors to process samples. 2. Advanced services - not complete -advanced services have not been established. The primary work done by DVS is emergency and preventative health management.DVS has been gauging interest in advanced services. One client has expressed interest in embryo transfer and one other hasexpressed interest in comprehensive breeding soundness exams on bulls. 3. Improvement in animal welfare - complete -several clients who are from urban environments that get animals from auctions require help and education on basic animal husbandry -DVS hastreated multiple diseases, many of which are preventable with proper knowledge and care (gastrointestinal parasitism is mostcommon) 4. Establish rural practice - complete -DVS has been established as a business since 2017. The noncompete that inhibited practice growth was over on January 1, 2020. DVS has been able to advertise and complete business in the noncompete area and that has been the largest part of practice growth. 5. Provide externship opportunities - have not established externships yet due to slower than expected practice growth and the COVID19 pandemic resulting in colleges converting to online learning. Expected results (YEAR 2) (from grant proposal) 1. Grow clients to 150 (107 now, plan to reach 150 by December 2020 (6 months behind schedule) -Currently, 4 veterinary practices in and around the shortage area, have been giving potential clients Dutton Veterinary Services information. These practices are overwhelmed with clients and have been happy to pass some on to DVS. 2. Grow livestock served to 1700 (is 265 now, expect to grow another 200 by the end of the year) - this growth has been much slowerthan expected due to the number of small farms served. Onaverage, farm size is about 10 animals 3. Service radius to 60 miles (current radius is about 50 miles) 4. Grow services with swine clients including pet pigs - completed. DVS sees about 10% porcine patients, including one large farmbreedingKuneKune pigs.
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached by the project Dutton Veterinary Services NY-182 includes residents of Otsego, Delaware and Sullivan counties, many of whom are producers, but also students and 4Hers. Producers reached in these counties raise a variety of food animals, including chickens, small ruminants, swine and cattle. The students reached by the project were students attending SUNY Delhi's Veterinary Science Technology program. The number of students reached in this manner was approximately eighty. Project activities also reached veterinary technician students from Bergen Community College, SUNY Ulster and Mercy College through the Farm Camp program offered by SUNY Delhi. Farm Camp is a combination of online lecture and a five day lab that occurs in June. The number of students reached in this manner was approximately ninety. Finally, some 4Hers were reached through activities in the project. Primarily, 4Hers were the children of clients seen by the practice. Ten children are in the same 4H club that Dr. Dutton's daughter is in. About ten other children and teenagers are children of clients that Dr. Dutton speaks to about their 4H project animals. Changes/Problems:A major setback to the performance of the project was the non-compete lawsuit that was being enforced on Dutton Veterinary Services during the reporting period. This was an anticipated issue according to the addendum submitted to NIFA by Dutton Veterinary Services, which specifically describes the non-compete and its potential effects on the project. As expected,the enforcement of the non-compete resulted in a 30% reduction in the goals of the project. Specifically, growth of the practice was delayed. One major change in the project plan is that the funds took several months to be released. The funds were not made available to Dutton Veterinary Services until December 13, 2018. The next week, Dutton Veterinary Services was able to purchase the vehicle for use in the practice. However, with the holiday season, the remaining equipment took about 6 weeks to purchase and receive. Without the equipment, specifically the Bowie unit to hold the equipment and drugs, Dutton Veterinary Service was not able to provide many services until February 2019. This has also significantly reduced the expected outcomes described in the VSGP application by up to 20%. Another major setback to the project plan was that the methods of advertising used did not result in as many calls as anticipated from the shortage area. The best advertising method remains word-of-mouth and as such many of the calls that Dutton Veterinary Services did receive were from people within the non-compete area and so could not be acted upon. In order to help mitigate some of this loss of business, Dutton Veterinary Services made sure to inform all callers that Dutton Veterinary Services would be available to them by January 1, 2020. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The main activity associated with disseminating information to the public was through teaching at the college of SUNY Delhi. The project director taught a lecture class and laboratory on food animal nursing which focused on common diseases, safe handling and biosecurity practices for veterinary technology students. These courses are required for graduation from the Veterinary Science Technology program. The students are from diverse backgrounds, many have never seen a food animal in person. As such, this was a vital activity to educate consumers on where their food comes from and what precautions veterinarians and producers take to maintain a safe food supply. Additionally, the project director maintained a facebook page and a website for Dutton Veterinary Services. These media sites allowed the PD to disseminate important information to communities in the service area. The facebook page is located at https://www.facebook.com/duttonveterinary/ and the website is www.duttonveterinary.com . The website has a blog which allows the PD to discuss topics of interest with the community. Topics have included small ruminant parasitism and equine vaccination. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period, Dutton Veterinary Services plans to continue to advertise to the shortage area. Once the non-compete is up on December 31, 2019, we anticipate that advertising will be easier. Dr. Dutton will use networking, word-of-mouth, social media and other methods to advertise the practice. In general, Dutton Veterinary Services needs to be much more aggressive in advertising to clients. Dr. Dutton intends to attend more agricultural events including county fairs to spread the word. In addition, Dutton Veterinary Services needs to network with the few food animal veterinarians in the shortage area in order to help provide much needed coverage. As mentioned in my grant application, there are several food animal veterinarians in the shortage area who are nearing retirement age, and as such, the PD believes there is an opportunity to take over some of the workload as these veterinarians are looking to step back. Also, Dutton Veterinary Services already has a relationship with the local small animal veterinary clinic in Walton, NY (Westbrook Veterinary Clinic). The clinic staff frequently refer people who call looking for food animal services to Dutton Veterinary Services. The project director has held a job with SUNY Delhi in the Veterinary Science Technology program as an assistant professor. This has been necessary for the project director to maintain an adequate income while they were starting up Dutton Veterinary Services. The project director has recently resigned from that job in anticipation of the growth of Dutton Veterinary Services. This will allow Dr. Dutton to focus solely on the practice including the activities mentioned above. Dutton Veterinary Services plans to provide more education opportunities particularly through local 4H groups. Dr. Dutton will maintain the social media pages to continue to spread information to the public. Specifically, Dr. Dutton plans to update the blog post 3 to 4 times per month, to share information on common animal issues, such as parasite control, zoonotic disease awareness and proper drug use. Finally, the noncompete that has been impeding the growth of Dutton Veterinary Services will be over on midnight of December 31, 2019. This will remove a significant obstacle from the growth of Dutton Veterinary Services in the shortage area. The project director anticipates that this will allow Dutton Veterinary Services to grow quickly and perhaps exponentially.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Central New York is a diverse rural area where many people are transplants from New York City. It is common to see many hobby farms with small numbers of food producing animals as people are attempting to become self-sufficient with greater knowledge of food production. There is an opportunity to educate these consumers-turned-producers on how to raise healthy animals for food. Many people lack knowledge on basic husbandry, use of medications and food handling practices. They also are at risk for contracting zoonotic diseases from the food animals that have become part of their families. It is the goal of Dutton Veterinary Services to provide veterinary services and education to this diverse array of producers to mitigate animal welfare concerns and disease transmission. Emily Dutton, DVM is the project manager and provided all of the work on the project during the specified time period. Dr. Dutton procured the grant money and the equipment to outfit Dutton Veterinary Services. She also set up social media and a website to reach out and educate consumers and advertise Dutton Veterinary Services. Dr. Dutton also performed education, primarily to veterinary technician students, on food animal diseases, safe handling, common procedures and biosecurity. The results of the project have been a greater understanding of food animal production practices as well as in increased awareness of animal welfare. Dr. Dutton has provided services in the designated areas as well as provided consultation and follow-up to food animal clients in the shortage areas. The practice has grown by 17% in the during the reporting period. Education about food animal production is critical in today's society. Dr. Dutton has educated over 170 naïve consumers on animal welfare and food animal production in the United States. Dr. Dutton has educated producers on common health issues and how to monitor for them to improve animal welfare and reduce disease transmission. Goals Use grant money to buy equipment for rural mobile practice a.Major activities: i.Purchased 2018 Toyota Tundra on December 18, 2018 ii.Purchased radiograph system on December 21, 2019 iii.Purchased and had installed Bowie unit in truck on January 31, 2019 iv.Purchased ultrasound unit in October 2018 b.Data collected: i.2018 toyota tundra purchase price: $40,385.18 (estimated cost: $38,000) ii.Digital, portable radiograph system purchase price: $39,995.00 (estimated cost: $50,000) iii.Bowie unit for truck purchase price: $15,469.00 (estimated cost: $12,500) iv.Ibex ultrasound purchase price: $15,002.50 (estimated cost: 13,500) v.Total money spent: $110,871.68 (Amount received: $122,000) vi.Total money remaining: $11,128.32 Discussion of results: Some of the equipment costs were higher than projected in the project application. This is primarily due to outdated quotes becausethe grant money wasdelayed. Dutton Veterinary Services was able to make up the difference in prices by getting a package deal on the portable radiograph system, which cost $10,000 less than anticipated. The last two pieces of equipment to be purchased are blood work machines. Dutton Veterinary Services plans to research machine costs and make purchases of this equipment in fall of 2019. Offer advanced food animal services to residents of Otsego, Delaware and Sullivan counties a.Major activities: i.Provided services to producers in the shortage area b.Data collected: i.New clients - practice grew by 17% ii.New livestock - practice grew by 65% iii.Service radius - practice serves a radius of 50 miles Discussion of results: The main goal of the project was to offer advanced food animal services to residents of Otsego, Delaware and Sullivan counties. Dutton Veterinary Services was able to partially achieve this goal through the purchase of much needed equipment to outfit the practice (see goal A above). After these purchases occurred, Dutton Veterinary Services saw growth in practice size in terms of clients served, livestock serviced and service radius as outlined above. The growth of the practice was not as fast as anticipated primarily due to the enforcement of the non-compete signed with a previous employer. This issue was outlined in an addendum submitted to NIFA suggesting that the non-compete would decrease the goals by about 30% during the first project year. Additionally, the growth was stunted by the fact that the money for the grant was not released until December of 2018. This also set the practice back by about 20%. Improve animal welfare in the shortage areas by providing emergency and consultation services to clients Major activities completed: i.Phone consultation on herd issues and management problems. ii.Provided sick animal and emergency services. b.Data collected: i.Parasite management programs developedon two farms. ii.Social media people reached (education). 1.Each facebook post reached an average of 90 people. 2. Facebook posts also linked to the practice website for more information. Discussion of results: Dutton veterinary services was able to achieve some of this goal by increasing the practice area and increasing the number of clients serviced. The practice radius is now 50 miles and the clientele grew by 17%. The practice radius grew larger than the suggested goal in the project application, but the number of new clients served was underwhelming. This is likely due to the delay in grant funds and the enforcement of the non-compete agreement which limited the area in which Dutton Veterinary Services could operate during the reporting period. Provide educational opportunities by working with 4-H clubs, elementary/high schools, extension, producers and veterinary and veterinary technician students a.Major activities completed: i.Taught two courses on Food Animal Diseases (lecture and lab) ii.Taught one online course on Food Animal Diseases (Farm Camp) iii.Taught two, one week long lab courses (Farm Camp) iv.Demonstrations of common food animal procedures and pain management Data collected: i.In lecture classes, taught 80 students ii.In labs had 40 students iii.Farm camp (online and in person) about 90 students Discussion of results: The project director, Dr Dutton, was employed at SUNY Delhi for the reporting period as an assistant professor. In this capacity she was able to educate many naïve consumers on food animal production practices, common diseases, foreign animal diseases, proper drug use and safety. Many of the students that Dr. Dutton taught had never seen a food animal in person, but they all learned to properly restraint cows, sheep, goats, chickens and swine in the laboratory periods. This education is vital for the purpose educating consumers on where their food comes from. Other Accomplishments: In this position, Dr. Dutton was able to network with a variety of people that are important for the future success of the project. These people include faculty and staff at SUNY Delhi as well as veterinary technicians and future veterinary students. Provide externship opportunities to veterinary and veterinary technician students to attract them to the area and encourage long-term employment in the food animal profession a.Major activities: i.Networked with faculty and staff at SUNY Delhi and potential veterinary students ii.Participated in a veterinarian panel where we discussed our individual career paths and students asked questions about going to veterinary school (October 2018) b.Data collected: i.Worked with 10 students who were interested in veterinary school ii.Four students with interest in becoming food animal veterinary technicians c. Discussion of results: Dutton Veterinary Services was unable to provide externships to students at this time. The practice has not grown enough to give consistent work to allow for much experience for the students.
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