Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** sterner veterinary clinic has…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** sterner veterinary clinic has served the agricultural community of rural michigan for over 75 years. During that time, we have successfully ensured the success of michigan cattle producers and michigan livestock veterinarians. Expanding into increasingly distant territories for a veterinarian can lead to personal hardships related to increased obligations while on call and diminishing financial returns for the work done for small producers. Finding a way to increase the availability of our veterinarians on staff to sustainably serve new clints with limited veterinary access is the goal of this grant funding opportunity.first, we want to hire a mobile, on-farm technician that is able to take on some routine care procedures for livestock and allow the veterinarians to attend to new clients in the underserved areas. This technician needs to be able to travel to farms independently of the doctor they are assisting. Utilizing the technician to provide employee training on farm with veterinary established curriculum will further increase the availability of licensed practitioners to service new clients.next, acquiring mobile facilities to make routine cattle restraint and local group haul-in clinics feasible are paramount to serving areas with limited access to veterinary services. Producer meetings that teach people how to take care of common health issues will increase the likelihood cattle needing assistance will be treated faster and decrease the likelihood small producers will need to call for emergency services. Our technician will be able to set up, assist, and clean the mobile equipment giving the veterinarians time to attend to more clients. Proper cattle handling facilities are very expensive and outside the scope for smaller producers to acquire. Having mobile facilities readily available for use along with a trained technician to set IT up for a reasonable fee will increase producer access and use. Proper facilities increases doctor efficiency and decreases the risk of injury to both humans and animals.finally, providing a paid summer internship for prospective high school students will identify talented young people likely to succeed in this career. Positive experiences in rural veterinary practice will generate a pipeline of new veterinarians to replace retiring doctors and provide continuity of care for underserved areas.