Nebraska offers $150k grants to attract livestock vets

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced a new grant program Monday aimed at drawing more veterinarians to rural parts of the state to care for livestock.

The Nebraska Rural Veterinary Grant Program will offer up to $150,000 each to 13 recent veterinary graduates who commit to working in rural Nebraska, where at least 80 percent of their practice is dedicated to “production animals” like cattle and other livestock.

In exchange, recipients must agree to remain in rural Nebraska for eight years.

“We’re running into an extraordinary shortage of food-animal practitioners across the state,” Pillen said at a news conference, reported by Nebraska Public Media. “This program addresses the demand and the extraordinary shortfall that we have.”

Applicants will be evaluated based on their passion for production animal health, hands-on experience, academic performance, and commitment to rural communities. The grant can support vets starting their own clinics or joining established practices.

Pillen, a veterinarian himself, has made addressing the shortage of livestock vets a priority.

Last year, he launched the Elite 11 Program, a scholarship program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which covers 50 percent of tuition for two years of undergraduate study in veterinary or animal science and 100 percent of tuition for the last two years.

Eleven students selected for the program must practice as production animal veterinarians in Nebraska for eight years or repay the tuition.

Unlike the Elite 11 Program, which is limited to Nebraska residents, the new grant is open to graduates nationwide.

Pillen noted that rural veterinary clinics across Nebraska are struggling to bring in new graduates, especially as many long-time veterinarians in smaller counties near retirement. He hopes the new grant, combined with the existing scholarship program, will help draw the 10 to 12 vets needed to maintain essential animal care services in these communities.

»Related: A growing crisis: America’s shortage of large-animal veterinarians