WASHINGTON, D.C. — The USDA on Nov. 4 awarded more than $4.5 million to 49 veterinarians to help repay a portion of their vet school loans, in exchange for each serving in one of 26 states that lack sufficient veterinary resources in their rural areas.

“Rural America is challenged with recruiting veterinarians,” said Dr. John Clifford, USDA chief veterinary officer. “These professionals often face high student loan debt, leading them to work in locations with larger populations and higher pay.

“This program offers loan repayment assistance to veterinarians, allowing them to fill shortages and work in rural areas, ultimately improving the well-being of livestock and providing an abundant and safe food supply for America.”

According to the USDA, the awards are through its Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP), administered by its National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to help fill shortages in these 26 states.

“Veterinarians are critical to America’s food safety and food security and to the health and well-being of both animals and humans,” the NIFA stated. “Studies indicate there are significant shortages of food-animal veterinarians in certain areas of the country, and in high-priority specialty sectors that require advanced training, such as food safety, epidemiology, diagnostic medicine and public health.”

NIFA explained a leading cause for this shortage is the heavy cost of four years of professional veterinary medical training, which leaves vet school graduates with an estimated debt burden of $135,283.

“Recipients are required to commit to three years of veterinary service in a designated veterinary shortage area,” NIFA continued. “Loan repayment benefits are limited to payments of the principal and interest on government and commercial loans received for attendance at an American Veterinary Medical Association-accredited college of veterinary medicine, resulting in a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree or the equivalent.”

NIFA added loan repayments made by the VMLRP are taxable income to participants, which include in the award a federal tax payment equal to 39 percent of the loan payment to offset the increase in income tax liability. This is the third year it has made renewal awards through the VMLRP.

Previous awardees with educational debt surpassed $75,000, the maximum award amount eligible to apply for a renewal award: “Renewal applications follow the same competitive review process as new applications, and submission of a renewal application doesn’t necessarily mean the veterinarian will receive continued VMLRP benefits.”

In fiscal year 2015, NIFA received 137 applications. Participants are required to serve in one of three types of shortage situations. Awardees filling Type 1 shortage areas must dedicate at least 80 percent of their time to provision of food-animal veterinary services.

Type 2 shortages are rural areas in which awardees are obligated to provide food-animal veterinary services at least 30 percent of their time. Type 3 shortage areas are dedicated to public practice and awardees must commit at least 49 percent of their time to working in these areas.

In Iowa, the nominated shortage areas are collectively determined by State Vet David Schmitt, Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the executive director of the Iowa Veterinary Medical Assoc. Schmitt said the USDA has chosen three Iowa veterinarians for awards for 24 of the state’s 99 counties, adding these submissions are sent to the NIFA for review and approval.

“Those nominations approved by a select panel are posted on the NIFA website, and individual veterinarians may apply for the award,” Schmitt explained. “There is another group of panelists who review the submissions and offer the final awards to the limits of the USDA’s funding.”

He said the current situation with veterinarians needed in Iowa’s rural areas, compared five or 10 years ago, is “there continues to be a demand for food-animal veterinarians, and this is seen through the advertisements of veterinary practices seeking food-animal or mixed animal practicing veterinarians.

“I believe it is worth noting of the approximately 2,800 Iowa licensed veterinarians, there are approximately 500 of those veterinarians who dedicate a segment of their work to the approximately 25 million swine, beef and dairy cattle, sheep, goat and equine in Iowa.”

But Dr. Robert Stout, DVM, state veterinarian for Kentucky, where the NIFA selected three veterinarians for awards for 58 counties, said, “There is no quantifiable way to assess needs, either current or past. We estimate based largely on cattle numbers by county, and NIFA practitioners in that county and adjacent counties.”

In Indiana, the NIFA awarded one veterinarian for all counties; in Illinois, two veterinarians were awarded for 13 counties; and in Michigan, one veterinarian was awarded for seven counties.

Schmitt said the NIFA will be sending the announcement next month to all state veterinarians for the year 2016 shortage nominations.