Recipient Organization
WESTERN PLAINS VETERINARY SERVICE, P.C.
73636 HIGHWAY 25
HAYES CENTER,NE 69032
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
If awarded the grant I would immediately place an order for the Ultrasound as I could use that requisition in the fall of 2024. I would also like to get the portable X-ray unit and blood analyzers in place early on to adequately treat animals on an individual basis as the situations arise. I could wait until the beginning of 2025 to order and install the mobile veterinary clinic as it will be used nearly every day in the spring. I would hope to have the artificial insemination barn in place by mid-April 2025 to accomplish those projects next spring. I anticipate providing ? of the fringe benefits each year upon completion of the grant responsibilities. I would plan to do the same with the aid of payment for my relief veterinarian. We will continue to try and recruit a new veterinarian to our practice through the many avenues as stated earlier until we can fulfill this hope. Again, if awarded this grant, I am confident the likelihood of procurement is enhanced. Every spring, we will continue to help educate high school FFA chapters for competitions, be involved with 4-H responsibilities in the spring and at the county fair, and as requested provide presentations for BQA/YQA training. I would also enhance our externship program with veterinary and veterinary technician students for possible future employment. We are reaching out to more institutions to provide possible employment to these students. Once a year, we will continue a producer educational meeting geared towards a timely topic(s). The scope will not only be to educate everyone on timely topics but also provide them an opportunity to give feedback on expectations they may have of our services that may not be currently met. I will continue to individually communicate with everyone on an individual basis to tailor protocols that garner the most economic impact for them while providing a safe product. During this timetable and into the future, I will also continue the great responsibility of disease surveillance in the shortage area that could have an impact locally, nationally, and worldwide on our food supply. Being an accredited veterinarian, there is always the possibility we will be the first individuals to thwart a national security threat which amplifies the sustainability of the shortage area clinics. In closing, I desire to continue the purchased veterinary clinic's success in providing services to a vast area and a large number of food-producing animals. To sustain the practice and provide a much-needed service, this grant would be of tremendous value. I hope to be able to pass this entity on to other qualified individuals in the future and allow them to practice veterinary medicine in a situation that provides great satisfaction through medicine and relationships in a profession of integrity.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The goals and purpose for our Rural Practice Enhancement of NE243 VeterinaryShortage situations align with those of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Veterinary Service Grant Program (VSGP). We hope and expect to continue to develop, implement, and sustain food and large animal veterinary services and continue to help relieve the veterinary shortage situation. Our area has been included in the shortage map on multiple occasions in the past, and no federal aid in the form of a VSPG or Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) has been awarded. To accomplish thOne objective is to better equip the practice with updated, efficient, safe, and portable equipment. In my budget justification, I have laid out the pieces I would hope to purchase to accomplish this step. These are of paramount importance for the advancement of our practice and being sustainable for the vast area and several clients. Over the three-year grant period, we will be able to track the impact this equipment has on our practice and producers with the aid of our veterinary software program and producer feedback. recruit a new associate veterinarian to our clinic with aspirations of ownership. If granted the funds from the VSGP and the purchase of equipment, it would greatly enhance our chances of landing a competent practitioner as well as trying to utilize the VMLRP. We are in a very rural area and many challenges arise in the competition of landing and providing the resources for a new large animal veterinarian. As stated in my project summary, three veterinarians currently live in the Veterinary Shortage Area. One of the three retired in June 2023 and two are 65+ years of age. Another large animal practitioner has also placed his business up for sale 50 miles north of Hayes Center, Nebraska. I have been employed and practicing for 24 years with Western Plains Veterinary Service and our satellite office 25 miles north. I purchased the whole corporation in December 2021 and have now been much more involved in Hayes Center operations with my previous partners' retirement and I have relocated there. For us to provide high-quality services to the 66,000 cattle in a county of 843 people, the grant would be of great importance. My third goal is to continue our efforts of local recruitment, understanding the importance of rural veterinarians and the agriculture industry to our area with the local high school students. I have convinced two qualified high school seniors in the region to apply this spring for the newly developed Elite 11 program in the state of Nebraska, for the graduation of veterinarians to return to rural practices for loan repayment aid. We have been intimately involved with local 4-H and FFA chapters as well as Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) training and yearly producer meetings that allow us to engage with students on multiple fronts. I also plan to communicate with veterinary colleges on their websites to provide more veterinary externship possibilities and the local college of technical agriculture for the advancement of veterinary technician students. A fourth aspiration of mine is to continue to work in a true partnership with my clients. I returned to my hometown roots following veterinary school 24 years ago because I wanted to give back to the area that had provided me vast opportunities growing up. The Western Plains Veterinary Service ownership hired me from veterinary school. It allowed me to help advance the practice, purchase the entire entity, and now carry on with the practice as the previous ownership retired. To accomplish this, I aspire to continue to provide high-quality, trusted services for my producers, improve efficiency and reduce costs to them, and expand my consultation and outreach. I have known many of the producers all of my life and have begun to see the next generation take over operations. Providing services with safe, efficient, and prudent portable equipment will allow me to accomplish this.
Project Methods
With the ability to efficiently pregnancy examine, fertility test bulls, and artificially inseminate heifers/cows, we are providing a colossal economic benefit to our producers. For example, culling 10 percent of open, crippled, badly dispositioned/confirmation cattle each year and removing them from the herd in a timely fashion provides instant income from the culls, and the huge indirect feed costs savings owners would have incurred if the animals had not been removed from the herd. Removing 10 percent of the infertile bulls from the battery avoids a potential economic disaster with cows not getting bred and providing the instant income of the culls. Artificially inseminating cattle in a timely fashion is very important as most are done with a fixed timing protocol. Without proper equipment, these time constraints are not met and pregnancy rates are hindered, below 50 percent is unacceptable to me. These projects entail much communication between the client and the veterinarian for proper compliance. Each cycle missed breeding an animal accounts for about 40 fewer pounds to be marketed at weaning in cattle.