By Abbey Canon
A low percentage of veterinary school students come from rural areas or express interest in rural practice, and an even lower percentage of recent veterinary school graduates enter into production animal medicine. These are concerning trends and exacerbate the rural veterinary shortage. As part of its stakeholder engagement on this important topic, USDA is holding two listening sessions this month to hear from key partners to determine what additional actions can be taken to reverse these trends and recruit veterinarians to USDA and rural areas.
On August 28, 2025, Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the Rural Veterinary Action Plan, a bold strategy to increase the number of rural food animal veterinarians across the United States and to bolster the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) veterinary workforce in its role to protect American ranchers, animals, and our food supply. The strategy includes the following actions:
- Enhance and streamline veterinary grant programs
- Analyze rural veterinary shortages to better understand the need
- Recruit and retain USDA veterinarians
- Catalog Federal resources available to veterinarians for starting a practice
- Work with and listen to stakeholders including vet schools to understand the barriers to entry and increase recruitment from rural areas