<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/5/1621357513370.png" alt="Livestock, including cattle, are a critical industry for the Kansas economy. Chris Neal / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Livestock, including cattle, are a critical industry for the Kansas economy. Chris Neal / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Task force is asking Kan. ranchers to take survey to find where shortage is most severe</h2>By STEPHEN KORANDA <a href="https://www.kcur.org/agriculture/2021-05-18/kansas-ranchers-struggle-to-find-veterinarians-and-its-hurting-the-9-billion-cattle-industry">Kansas News Service</a>TOPEKA — Kansas, a state that relies heavily on the 
cattle industry to power its economy, faces a shortage of the 
veterinarians that tend to the livestock.So it’s launched a task 
force to find how to draw more people who can doctor the livestock 
driving billions of dollars in economic activity.Cattle ranching and related businesses employ nearly 39,000 people and contribute an estimated <a href="https://agriculture.ks.gov/docs/default-source/ag-marketing/ag-contribution-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=10dc92c1_4" target="_blank">$8.7 billion</a> to the Kansas economy.The
 veterinarian shortage poses more than just an inconvenience for people 
who ranch cattle or run cow-calf operations. If a cow needs a C-section 
and a vet isn’t available, that can mean a lost calf — and lost revenue.“If
 you don't have a veterinarian that you can contact to provide the 
various vet services, it can have devastating impacts to your business,”
 Deputy Kansas Agriculture Secretary Kelsey Olson said.State 
officials, the livestock industry and universities are looking for ways 
to ease the shortage. The Rural Veterinary Workforce Development Task 
Force is starting with <a href="https://kstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_50yAle8jT1ib7VQ" target="_blank">a survey</a> to determine where livestock producers have the greatest need for veterinarians.Olson
 said one factor is that many students entering veterinary school are 
interested in tending to cats and dogs, rather than heifers and hogs.“We
 see that taking off,” she said. “Many of the students are coming in 
with that experience and wanting to specifically focus on small 
animals.”In addition, Olson said it’s a challenging job. A rural 
vet might be on call every weekend. Working in a larger practice in a 
city can seem more appealing. More staff can share the demands with 
rotating weekend shifts.Still, Kansas is doing better at training large animal vets than many other states.Brad
 White, a Kansas State University professor and director of the Beef 
Cattle Institute, said about 25% of the school’s graduates work in mixed
 or large animal practices. He said the nationwide average is only 
around 14%.He’s urging livestock producers to take the survey to 
help the group find out where veterinary shortages are the most severe. 
He thinks about it the same way he would treat an animal disease.“I
 want to be able to get a diagnosis. I want to know, exactly what are we
 dealing with?,” White said. “Then I can come up with what's the best 
treatment plan.”Some veterinary programs at K-State already focus
 specifically on food animals. White said fixing the shortage likely 
isn’t as simple as growing those programs.“Is it education? Is it on the supply side? Is it on the demand side? Where is the discrepancy?” he said.The people taking part in the effort believe it won’t be an easy task to sort all that out.“I don't think there's a quick fix,” said Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association.Teagarden
 said scholarship programs that target rural students might help. But 
first, members of the task force need to know where there’s sufficient 
demand to sustain a veterinary practice.It isn’t a long-term 
solution to recruit or train a new vet then send them to an area where 
there isn’t enough demand to sustain their business.“There might be a reason,” Teagarden said, “there isn’t a vet clinic there already.”Stephen Koranda is the Statehouse reporter and news editor for the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/Stephen_Koranda" target="_blank">@Stephen_Koranda</a> or email him at stephenkoranda@kcur.org.

Kan. ranchers struggle to find vets — and it's hurting the cattle industry