NIFA Invests Nearly $3M in Rural Food Animal Veterinary Medicine Across the U.S.

Jan 19, 2022

NIFA recently announced 17 Veterinary Service Grants Program (VSGP) Awards, seven Education, Extension, and Training (EET) grants and 10 Rural Practice Enhancement (RPE) grants to help mitigate food animal veterinary service shortages in the United States. The goals of the VSGP are to support food animal veterinary medicine through EET funds for accredited schools and organizations and through RPE funds for veterinary clinics that provide services in veterinary shortage situations. This program is designed to support education and extension activities that will enable veterinarians, veterinary students, and veterinary technicians gain specialized food animal skills and practices.

The 2014 Farm Bill authorized the establishment of the VSGP as a companion to the Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) to incentivize service in veterinary shortage situations. Ultimately, VSGP will bolster the capacity of private veterinary practitioners to provide food animal medicine in rural veterinarian shortage locations.

Source : usda.gov

Video: Assessing Welfare Resources During Late Finish - Dr. Anna Johnson & Emma Coursey

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Anna Johnson from Iowa State University and Emma Coursey from the University of Illinois discuss research evaluating welfare resources during the late finishing stage on commercial swine farms. They explain how feeder management, water use, space allocation, and pig health influence welfare outcomes and practical on-farm management. Listen now on all major platforms!

"Small resource issues can become larger welfare problems when multiple stressors interact across finishing barns."

Meet the guests: Dr. Anna Johnson / anna-johnson-05028a14 is the Morrill Professor of Animal Behavior and Welfare at Iowa State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from Texas Tech University and completed her master's degree in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on practical solutions that improve farm animal welfare, including sow productive lifetime, animal-human interaction, environmental enrichment, and Precision Livestock Farming.

Emma Coursey / emma-coursey-183810241 is pursuing a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine after earning a bachelor's degree in Animal Science from Iowa State University. Her academic interests include swine health, production, and animal welfare, with research experience evaluating welfare resources in commercial finishing pigs.