Recipient Organization
PIONEER ANIMAL CLINIC, L.L.C.
3370 IMMIGRANT TRAIL DR
SCOTTSBLUFF,NE 693617711
Performing Department
Pioneer Animal Clinic
Non Technical Summary
Pioneer Animal Clinic (PAC) is located in the heart of the Nebraska Panhandle and remains theonly large animal practice in Scotts Bluff County. Since its inception 1964, PAC has been a mixed animalpractice serving ranching and cattle feeding clients in the valley of the North Platte River, including theVMLRP NE 212 shortage area and the surrounding Wyo-Braska area. The horse has remained a faithfulpartner in these operations and equine practice has always been and remains a crucial aspect of the clinicas well. This area is vast and highly dependent on agriculture with a low veterinarian to food animal ratio.PAC has continued to grow, expanding facilities and recruiting veterinarians (including myself) to meetthis need. Despite this, as pieces of equipment age out of use, other equipment needs have been created byexpanding the number of doctors in the practice over the last year. Replacement of the in-house chute, ultrasound, and heifer spay tools; and the addition of a mobile chute, additional practice vehicle, electro-ejaculator, and endoscope would provide necessary equipment to better match the doctors available, allowing us to better service the shortage area. The requested equipment would amplify efforts to increase the veterinarian to large animal ratio by increasing our efficiency, safety, and availability to the area.Through this we can more effectively improve health and welfare of the animals contributing to a safe,abundant, and wholesome food supply; and fulfill the management and regulatory medical needs of thearea.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The overarching goals of obtaining this Rural Practice Enhancement grant are to increase availability ofveterinarians to large animal clients in the area by outfitting additional veterinarians with equipment. Thisequipment will increase efficiency and safety for veterinarians, staff, and visiting students, as well as addan additional mobile site available to producers.? Replace the current stationary clinic chute with a 12-foot RR Tuff Livestock Hydraulic Tilt Chute.The cost of this is $24,100.00. We expect to see at least 50 podiatric cases per year by year 3. Thesefoot cases are ones we aren't currently able to safely and efficiently handle at this time.? Equip the practice with an RR Tuff Portable Livestock Chute. This will cost $20,602.00. We expectto increase use of this to 50 times per year during the first 3 years of use. An additional chute willgive veterinarians added to the practice mobile capabilities as well as support the addition of heiferspay services offered.? Purchase of a new pickup and vet box to allow timely replacement of vehicles aging out of serviceand support expansion of doctors. Many areas are only accessible in a 4-wheel drive pickup, whichwill need to be capable of pulling the portable chute as well. We plan to purchase a Ford F350 pickupwith an estimated cost of $55,786.40. We currently estimate that we do about 160 farm calls peryear, and expect that to increase to 364-500 farm calls per year over the next 3 years.? Install a Bowie Vet Box into the For F350. The cost of the box, plus the cost of the installation, is$9,950. This allows for storage and transportation of medications and equipment for mobile calls.? Purchase of 2 new spay tools to be used for bovine spay procedures totaling $1,376.60. Estimation ofthis new service is difficult, but increasing to 3,000-5,000 head by year 3 seems reasonable.? Purchase of a new ultrasound unit capable of higher quality images in equine reproductive, lameness,and general medical examinations. The cost is estimated at $10,685.00. We estimate increasing fromthe current 385 to over 500 ultrasound exams per year over the first 3 years.? Purchase of new Lane IV Electro-ejaculator, costing $2,500. We estimate additional growth of semenchecks to 1000 head per year by year 3.? If funds allow, purchase new endoscopy unit with both 3-meter and 1-meter attachments. We expectto use this 50 times per year by year 3. This will be used for equine airway and gastric exams. Manyof the ranch and feedlot horse clients could benefit from endoscopy, but can't justify traveling severalhours away to the nearest referral center that can perform endoscopy.All of these items will be put into use immediately after their arrival to the practice. The expectationis the new chutes, vet box, and spay tools will remain in use for 10-20 years. The truck, ultrasound unit,electro-ejaculator and endoscope will likely last 7-10 years before needing replacement.
Project Methods
PAC has an active Facebook page and website that can feature the new and exciting additions ofequipment as they arise. We also regularly contribute a small segment to a local radio station called"Veterinary Viewpoint." Radio is one of the more widely used means of communicating informationthroughout the ag community in this area, so this medium has potential for a broad reach. It is primarilyused to offer helpful information and insights to the public, but has already been used successfully tocommunicate the addition of new veterinarians and the addition of the heifer spay service I am offering.Once I'm able to do larger numbers, I also plan to advertise this service at local livestock markets as well.Limitations mostly stem from our inability to predict the future. We are confident these tools willincrease our availability to clients, and will meet needs the area has, but estimating growth and utilizationis always challenging. Though I have been gaining momentum working toward offering heifer spays,increasing my efficiency and expanding the number of heifers I'm able to do in a day has beenchallenging, and to some degree requires access to producers that are willing to work with me as I do this.Additionally, this practice previously had pregnancy checked about 13,000 cows per year, mostly done byone of the owners. We hope to add at least 5,000-7,000 cows per year in the next few years, but this isvery dependent on producers utilizing us. We did not see as much growth in this area as myself and theother new associate had hoped over the last year, and are unsure of all the reasons for this.By combining this RPE grant with my active VMLRP contact for NE 212, PAC will be betterequipped to fulfill the full potential of its veterinarians to service large animal clients in this area. Throughthe receipt of this grant, we will be ever more prepared to fulfill the mission of safeguarding animalwelfare, securing a safe and wholesome food supply, contributing to the education of up-and-comingprofessionals, and improving the veterinarian/animal ratio in this practice area.