(This article was originally published in the Livestock Market Digest on April 15, 2026. Reprinted with permission. Lee Pitts is a columnist and author in the agricultural world. Aaalivestock)
Have you ever had a heifer trying to calve and you know it's going to require a C-section and you probably should have called the vet hours ago? But when you finally call you get a recording: "If this is an emergency leave your number and the Doc will get back to you as soon as possible."
There's no one else to call, the heifer dies and it will cost $3,500 to replace her all because your vet is busier than a one-armed-paperhanger and is so stressed out he or she is working themselves into an early grave. Yes, we have an emergency on our hands and if something doesn't change you may not even have a vet to call at all.
If you are a livestock producer here are a few facts that should send a chill up your back.
You tell me, does this sound like a healthy state of affairs?
According to the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), "Significant shortages of veterinarians exist across all sectors of professional activity and at all levels of specialization. The available evidence indicates that these shortages are a result of systemic, long-term trends in pet ownership and demand for veterinary services, along with limited capacity for training veterinary professionals, and are expected to continue unless the veterinary medical profession takes action.”
"Over the past 10 years, overall demand for veterinary services in the U.S. pet healthcare market has been increasing at an inflation-adjusted rate of over six percent per year. Since 2007, the number of U.S. veterinarians has been increasing at a rate of only 2.7 percent each year, and a substantial shortage exists today," says the AAVMC.
"Because about 75 percent of U.S. veterinarians are engaged in pet healthcare, a shortage in this sector has dramatic effects on the rest of the profession. As a result of the shortage, compensation packages in companion animal practice have increased substantially in recent years. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these compensation packages have effectively made other career pathways comparatively less attractive, likely tipping the career-choice scales for many candidates. Although a shortage of veterinarians stemming from several complex factors has already been recognized for years in the food animal and public health sectors, increasing compensation in companion animal practice is exacerbating this pre-existing situation."
According to the AAVMC, "Recent analysis revealed that the number of open positions for specialists exceeds the number of anticipated candidates available in the current employment market by as much as four times. This situation is of particular concern for academic veterinary medicine, where as many as 50 percent of the faculty are trained in a recognized clinical specialty. Because of specialists’ critical roles in this segment of the market — teaching and research — a prolonged shortage could have a disproportionate negative impact across the industry for years to come on access to care and scientific discovery.”
"One commonly suggested remedy for the veterinarian shortage is expanded and more effective use of non-veterinary staff, especially credentialed veterinary nurses/technicians. However, analysis of this U.S. market indicates that over 50,000 additional nurses/technicians are needed to maximize productivity in companion animal practice today. Further, it would take 30 years of these graduates at current training capacity to meet projected needs in 2030. Clearly, this is not an immediate solution," concluded the AAVMC.
Perhaps the best study on the subject of the shortage of vets has been done by a human hospital two years ago... Johns Hopkins, of Baltimore, Maryland. Since then, the vet shortage has only gotten worse. But why would a human hospital be worried about livestock vets? Because the spread of zoonotic diseases — those that can be transmitted from animals to humans — are on the rise and if past is prologue, they can only be expected to rise dramatically.
According to the Johns Hopkins study, "Veterinarians involved in food supply veterinary medicine, commonly referred to as food animal veterinarians (FAV's), play a crucial role in America’s food supply chain. By caring for the health and welfare of livestock, they promote the consumption of animal-based products in a safe, sustainable, and ethical way. They also serve on the frontlines for infectious disease surveillance, including for emerging zoonotic diseases, and through this, contribute to national and global health security."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, "Two-thirds of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin (they can jump from animals to humans), and most of these infections are associated with animals raised for food production."
The Johns Hopkins study said, "The safety of animal-origin foods depends heavily on access to adequate veterinary care. For animal diseases and emergencies of major economic importance, such as African Swine Fever and Avian Influenza, veterinarians are our first line of defense for biosecurity, emergency preparedness and response. A veterinary workforce with inadequate capacity places our food systems and food security at risk."
The Johns Hopkins study concluded, "Over the last several decades, the number of food animal veterinarians has DECREASED dramatically in the United States. This trend endangers public health by increasing our vulnerability to zoonoses, compromising food safety, and threatening food security. Poor preventive care and infection control in livestock also leads to the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. The problem is projected to worsen in the coming years, especially in rural communities."
Needless to say, vet students aren't stupid. They can readily see that it will take eight years of education to become an accredited large animal vet in the U.S in the same time they could become a medical doctor and make at least three times more money. And even if they do want to specialize in large animal medicine there are all sorts of jobs that will pay them substantially more money than being a large animal vet.
They can work in the pharmaceutical industry, diagnostics, academia, or working for government agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the USDA. For example, the expertise of large animal vets in managing large disease outbreaks was extremely valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking of which, the COVID-19 epidemic further exacerbated the shortage of large animal vets because it increased the demand for small animal and companion animal veterinarians to work in small animal medicine. This further limited the pool of food animal veterinarians.
According to Johns Hopkins, "The aging of the population also contributes to the shortage. Retiring food animal veterinarians are trying to find a replacement before leaving the profession. However, replacements are difficult to secure given the lack of graduating veterinarians interested in food animals. Some states have searched for several years with little luck. Unable to fill this gap, State Animal Health Officials expressed that many large animal private clinics have shut down. The remaining clinics, many of which are also understaffed, are now seeing unsustainable surges in clients and patients."
In at least one instance, one retiring large animal vet publicly offered to give away his rural practice, equipment, furniture, and his pickup if someone would take over his clinic so he wouldn't leave his customers in a lurch. He found no takers.
According to Scott Leibsle, State Veterinarian/ Administrator at the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, “In Nez Perce county (central Idaho), the only mixed clinic has lost two vets to retirement in the last 10 years and has been unable to replace them. The saleyard in Nez Perce county has had to bring a veterinarian out of retirement to service the market on sale days to meet regulatory requirements for marketed livestock. There is a tremendous need for emergency work with dystocias, prolapses etc... but, the existing practices cannot meet the demand. Vets in the area all agree the current workload is unsustainable.”
There's also a big difference in the attitude towards hard work amongst the generations. According to the Johns Hopkins study, "Younger veterinarians may prioritize work-life balance and be reluctant to take on-call-shifts or work more than 40 hours a week.”
"Gender may also play a role. Food animal medicine has traditionally been a male-dominated profession, but the number of men enrolling in veterinary schools has decreased by 80 percent since the 1970s. A female veterinarian may feel intimidated by gender-biased farmers who may not accept a “girl vet” or refuse to provide fair compensation.”
"Male veterinarians still make up a large portion of bovine practitioners, especially when compared to the overall number of U.S veterinarians by gender. The male practitioners are older and getting ready to retire," said Johns Hopkins.
Most vet students today come from urban backgrounds and have a lack of familiarity with livestock.
"Veterinary schools today primarily focus on companion animal medicine rather than food animal medicine," according to Johns Hopkins. "With limited budgets and extramural funding to support ongoing programs and facility needs, veterinary schools are inclined to invest in small animal veterinary medical teaching hospitals that generate higher revenue. Schools fall short of providing students with adequate exposure to large animals. If students lack exposure to large animals during veterinary school, they are less likely to pursue a career in food animal medicine."
There's also another factor at play here: the animal rights movement. Washington State University recently cancelled the equine portion of its large-animal surgical course due to what it calls the "burgeoning power of online activism."
The College of Veterinary Medicine at WSU announced on March 16 that it would not proceed with the spring equine surgery lab, citing a high volume of threatening and hostile communications directed at students, faculty, and staff.
"The safety of our students, faculty, staff, and animals is our highest priority,” the university said in a statement. Animal-rights groups credited 36,000 emails from PETA supporters for driving this decision.
“PETA applauds WSU for listening to the public and canceling the laboratory that would have killed eight healthy and adoptable horses.” According to WSU, "Just last year, WSU was forced to close its veterinary hospital to large animal emergencies after-hours due to understaffing. The cancellation comes at a time when the veterinary profession is already facing a shortage of large animal practitioners, especially in rural areas. Limited access to training opportunities has long been cited as a barrier to students entering food animal and equine practice.
Leave it to our government to make matters worse. Remember when the feds announced The Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD)? Prior to implementation of the VFD, producers had access to over-the-counter antibiotics at their local farm animal supply store and over the Internet to treat their animals. But then the VFD came along which required producers to obtain veterinary oversight for all therapeutic antibiotics used on the ranch and producers had to form "a working relationship with their vet," whatever that is.
But what happens if there is no vet to have a working relationship with?
So, what was the result? Many ranchers performed their own medical treatments without the guidance of a veterinarian. They self-diagnosed, illegally obtained antibiotics, and administered medications on their own. Johns Hopkins predicted this would happen.
"The shortage of food animal veterinarians may lead to the adulteration of antibiotics. The lack of veterinarians will lead to compromised monitoring of herd health, lack of data and record-keeping and insufficient knowledge of how antibiotics are being used on farms."
The fact is large animal vets are on the verge of disappearing in this country. So next time your vet is a little late remember the Johns Hopkins study: "Compassion fatigue and burnout are serious concerns for veterinarians; 66 percent feel overworked, 38 percent desire to leave the profession, and only 30 percent would recommend a career in veterinary medicine."
We conclude on a very sad note: a recent study showed that "female veterinarians are 3.5 times and male veterinarians were 2.1 times more likely to commit suicide compared to the general American population. In fact, one in every six veterinarians has contemplated suicide since leaving veterinary school."
If you’re a food animal producer, horse owner or backyard cowboy, you definitely have an emergency on your hands.
Lee Pitts is a widely recognized columnist and author in the agricultural world. He is also a prolific author, having written at least nine books, and is known for collecting stories about "dusty old characters" — real people from rural and ranching life. He writes columns that appear in multiple livestock publications, and is known for his witty, opinionated commentary on issues affecting ranchers and the beef industry, including topics like animal identification regulations and the beef checkoff program. Aaalivestock
The Livestock Market Digest is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at P.O. Box 7458.
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