State/Territory
Oklahoma
Shortage Location - Must Serve
Garfield, Kingfisher, Lincoln, Logan, Noble, Oklahoma, Pawnee, and Payne Counties in North Central Oklahoma
Shortage Location - May Serve
Location Center
Junction of State Highway 51 and US Highway 77 in northern Logan County
VSGP Status
Open
VMLRP Status
(Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program)
Open
Priority of shortage
High
Fiscal year
Percent FTE
(Full Time Equivalent, based on a 40hr work week.)
40
Type of Shortage
(Veterinary Practice Area / Discipline / Specialty)
Type II Shortage: Private Practice – Rural Area Food Animal Medicine
Must serve
Beef Cattle
Swine
Small Ruminant
Other Must Serve
May serve
Dairy Cattle
Poultry
Other May Serve
Employer
Position Title
Other disciplinary area
Carry Over
Nominator Name
Rod Hall, DVM
Nominator Title
State Veterinarian
Nominator Org
Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry
Nominator Email
Nominator Phone
405-522-0270
Importance/Objectives of Veterinarian
Within this 8 county area in north central Oklahoma that covers 6,434 square miles, there are approximately 434,000 head of cattle on 6,114 premises. Garfield, Noble, and Kingfisher Counties have many large farms/ranches that run cow/calf and stocker operations because of the abundant wheat pasture. The other Counties tend to be made up of smaller farms/ranches that run mostly cow/calf operations. The area near the larger cities has many "ranchettes" where the operations are very small and could be counted as hobby farms. There are six livestock auction markets in the area, including the largest market in the state. Oklahoma National Stockyards sells almost half a million cattle a year. These markets require regular veterinary services. This shortage area also has over 8,000 head of swine on 289 premises. Almost all these are show pig herds that require dependable veterinary services. Small ruminant production is very important in this area, accounting for 1,200 premises and 26,000 head of sheep and goats. Currently, there are 187 veterinary practices and 397 veterinarians in the area. The majority are companion animal only in Oklahoma City, Stillwater, and Enid, and many are on the faculty at Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Less than 20 do a significant amount of food animal practice. Agriculture and animal production play an integral role in ensuring the communities within this area thrive by supporting the economy, providing jobs, and contributing to the food supply. Therefore, the objective of supporting a food animal veterinarian in this area will not only provide critical production animal veterinary services, provide necessary regulatory services to producers, but will ensure the area's entire animal agriculture can continue to contribute to the economic growth and wellbeing.
Veterinarian Medical Activities & Services
The activities of a veterinarian in this area will primarily be focused on beef cattle work (cow/calf, stocker operations), but show swine and small ruminants are important as well. Show swine practice is different than commercial swine practice, so a practitioner in this area must understand how to work with the producers. Many small ruminant producers have different attitudes that tend to focus more on individual animals rather than herd health, so the practitioners in this area must be able to work with both type of producers. Every County hosts multiple livestock shows and fairs, and the Oklahoma State Fair and the Oklahoma Youth Expo (the largest junior livestock show in the USA) are in this area. Veterinarians in this area will have the opportunity to assist exhibitors. The six livestock markets in this area are required to have a veterinarian on staff. The veterinarian must be willing to provide emergency services for clients after hours as there are not any emergency clinics within the area to refer cases to for care. Community involvement and civic organization volunteerism is very important in this area and lends itself well to becoming a trusted member of the community. The veterinarian will be expected to provide guidance on animal care, judicious use of antimicrobials, public health, biosecurity practices, and foreign animal disease preparedness to the producers in the area. The veterinarian will need to be knowledgeable about foreign animal, zoonotic, and emerging disease and serve as a sentry and report cases to State and Federal Animal Health Officials.
Historical Efforts of Recruiting/Retaining a Veterinarian
Of the 397 veterinarians in this area, 323 are in the Counties with the two largest cities. There are 10 established practices that do significant food animal work. There are 18 veterinarians who do a significant amount of food animal practice, but four of them are in their 60s and 70s and will retire soon. There have been a few new veterinarians move into the area but they have replaced practitioners who have died or retired. There has been a net decrease in food animal practitioners in the past 10 years. If new food animal practitioners can't be recruited and retained this area will be drastically in short supply for food animal practitioners. For the most part, retention of associates has been good in this area, and a few have taken over practices for retiring veterinarians. There are some really good veterinarians here who will be great mentors for new practitioners.
Consequences of Not Securing/Retaining a Veterinarian
Animal agriculture is critical to the livelihood and economy in this shortage area. Failure to secure and retain adequate veterinarians in this area causes a negative impact to the livestock, public health, and ultimately the food supply. If the number of food animal practitioners is allowed to decrease, the health of the livestock both individually and collectively will suffer. With fewer trained practitioners to recognize and report foreign animal, zoonotic, and other diseases of economic and public health significance, our ability to detect and respond to these diseases in a timely manner could potentially be catastrophic to the livestock industry and compromise human health. An outbreak of a foreign animal disease would cause a loss of international trade of our agriculture products which has a negative effect not only on the individual producer but on the entire agriculture industry of the United States. A lack of practitioners also creates a hardship for producers to receive timely care of ill livestock or to coordinate services required for interstate commerce like regulatory testing and issuance of Certificates of Veterinary Inspections needed to maintain Animal Disease Traceability. It can also hinder a producer's ability to use antimicrobials judiciously when they are unable to obtain a Veterinary Feed Directive or prescription for injectable antibiotics, which in turn can contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in human health. Stocker cattle move into this area from all over the southeastern part of the US, and move out to feedyards in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado, so the potential for introducing and spreading disease is always possible. The livestock markets also offer the potential to spread disease to many other states rapidly, so it's important to have veterinarians to recognize diseases and report them.
Community Aspects
It's difficult to imagine that this area would not be attractive to any candidate. It is a short, easy drive to the Oklahoma State Capitol, Oklahoma City, with many museums, upscale shopping, fine restaurants, amusement parks, minor league baseball, NBA basketball, etc. Tulsa, OK and Wichita, KS are little more than an hour away as well. But, if a person is more interested in activities away from urban environments there are ample opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking, and other outdoor activities within easy driving distance. Salt Plains State Park is in the northern part of the area. A person can dig for selenite crystals there as well as see many Sandhill Cranes and occasionally endangered Whooping Cranes. To the northeast is Osage County with many historic ranches and grasslands, including the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, which is the largest protected piece of tallgrass prairie left on earth. This is where the events of the recent movie "Killers of the Flower Moon" took place and where the movie was filmed. Payne County is home to Oklahoma State University where all the amenities of a college town can be enjoyed.