“Briefing / Talking Points for Oral Presentation” 

Title: Strengthening Rural & Federal Veterinary Capacity — Proposed Policy Measures & Data Justification 

Introduction & Acknowledgment 

• I am Dr. Joseph Annelli, Executive Vice President of the National Association of Federal Veterinarians and a retired 32-year career veteran of USDA’s APHIS Veterinary Services. 
• I’d like to thank Secretary Rollins, USDA leadership, and staff for convening these listening sessions and for the development of the the Rural Veterinary Action Plan. 
• Recognizing the acute shortage of veterinarians in rural America and in federal service, this session is timely and critical. 
• Today I present key suggestions/proposals — grounded in data — to support recruitment and retention of rural and public practice veterinarians. 

The Challenge: What the Data Shows 

1. Practice-type distribution among graduates / veterinarians 

• In the Class of 2024, ~3.3 % of graduates entered food-animal exclusive practice, ~9.6 % entered mixed-animal practice, and ~5.9 % entered equine practice. 
• The great majority (by contrast) enter small animal / companion animal practice. 
• In a cross-sectional survey of ~2,195 veterinarians, 78 % worked in small animal practice; only 22 % were in other practice types (food, mixed, etc.). 
• These data show that only a small fraction of new veterinarians choose or remain in rural / food-animal practice, compounding shortages in those areas. 

2. Federal / Public Service Veterinary Workforce & Vacancy Rates 

• The FSIS veterinary workforce (Public Health Veterinarians in USDA) has persistent vacancy rates of ~11–19 % nationally, and as high as ~23 % in some districts. 
• Reports indicate that federal veterinary professional pay lags private practice by $20,000 to $30,000 at entry levels. 
• According to a recent NAFV / stakeholder comment, USDA salaries for veterinarians lag private practice by ~30 % at entry level and ~10–12 % at mid level.  
• More broadly, the federal-private wage gap (across comparable occupations) is estimated at ~24.7 % in 2024. 
• The high vacancy rates, combined with compensation disparities, exacerbate retention and recruitment challenges in public veterinary service. 

3. Salary levels in private / practice sector (benchmarks) 

• In private practice, average reported incomes for bovine veterinarians are ~$143,333. 
• Entry-level private practice salaries (for new veterinarians, across sectors) are sometimes cited at ~$114,000, compared to ~$87,862 for new public practice veterinarians (based on 2022 AVMA / pay surveys). 
• These comparisons suggest that new veterinarians could see gaps of 20-30 % or more in compensation when entering public vs private practice roles, before bonuses, locality pay, or benefits. 

4. Retention / Practice Longevity 

• In the survey of rural vs non-rural veterinarians, ~78 % overall reported intent to stay in their current practice, with no significant difference by rural vs non-rural location. 
• However, rural veterinarians tended to report longer work weeks (> 40 hours/week), more on-call burden, and less amenity access, which may contribute over time to burnout and attrition.
• International evidence (e.g. from France) suggests that “tutored internship” exposure may increase the probability of choosing rural / food-animal practice by ~13–20 %. 

Policy Proposals & Specific Asks 

1. Rural Veterinary Startup Grants / Low-Interest Loans 

• USDA should create grant or loan mechanisms (analogous to Farm Service Agency FSA loan programs) to subsidize the capital and operational startup costs for veterinarians who commit to opening practices in underserved rural areas. 
• Such funding would lower the barrier of facility, equipment, and infrastructure cost — a major deterrent especially to debt-burdened graduates. 

2. Expand & Reorient Loan Repayment / Incentive Programs 

• Expand VMLRP (Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program) eligibility to more rural private practice veterinarians and public practice veterinarians. 
• Increase maximum annual payments, allow more flexible term lengths, and adjust payments upward in high-need rural zones. 

3. Establish Special Pay or “Professional Pay” Categories for Federal Veterinarians 

• Create a dedicated federal pay category for all 701 series veterinarians (and other series with DVM/VMD degrees). This is critical as FSIS told their employees they are considering limiting special pay to in-plant veterinarians only and reassigning a different occupational series to other veterinarians]. 
• Ensure that any pay incentive is fair or you will make the situation worse with veterinarians leaving FSIS for APHIS for example where we expect all 701 and other series with DVM degrees will be covered by this Action Plan. 
• Ensure advancement pathways that further close the private-public pay gap. For example, we commend FSIS for the creation of a District Veterinarian position at a GS-13 level although we fear this was done more to reduce the number of veterinarians required by FSIS than it was to create a career ladder for veterinarians. 
• Provide recruitment & retention bonuses, board certification supplements, advanced degree supplements and market locality differentials (the Presidents Pay Agent of OPM does not consider areas with fewer than several thousand federal employees for locality pay and any of the high cost of living rural areas have very few federal employees) to make public veterinary service financially competitive. 
• As the stakeholder analysis suggests, bridging the 20-30 % entry gap and 10–12 % mid-career gap is essential to recruiting and retaining talent. 

4. Interagency Cooperative Agreements for USPHS / Agency Mobility 

• Sign cooperative agreements or MOUs across USDA agencies (e.g. APHIS, NIFA, FSIS, Rural Development) to allow all of them to hire and share veterinarians from USPHS under uniform pay incentives. (i.e. do not leave USPHS veterinarians out of the pay incentives created for other federal veterinarians) 
• This flexibility would increase mobility, retention, and cross-mission veterinary capacity. 

5. Board Certification & Credential Incentives 

• Offer additional salary supplements or bonus stipends for veterinarians who achieve board certification / diplomate status, or advanced degrees, particularly in food animal, epidemiology, pathology, or other public health specialties. 
• This both rewards advanced training and helps retain specialists in underserved areas. 

6. Designation of Veterinary Shortage Zones & Trigger Mechanisms 

• Using the data analysis USDA plans to undertake (report by mid-2026), USDA should designate Veterinary Shortage Zones analogous to Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). 
• These designations would trigger eligibility for enhanced bonuses, loan forgiveness, startup grants, or priority hiring without limiting it to only State requested hard to fill areas as is done now. 

7. Pipeline & Rural Recruitment Programs 

• Expand scholarship, pre-vet internships, rural high school outreach, and early admission tracks (especially to students from rural/farm backgrounds). 
• Tie funding to conditional service agreements (e.g. loan forgiveness or bonus in exchange for rural practice years). 

Conclusion & Invitation for Collaboration 

• The data is clear: only a small fraction of new veterinarians enter rural or public veterinary work, and compensation disparities hinder recruitment. 
• USDA has laid a strong foundation with the Rural Veterinary Action Plan; now is the moment to adopt bold policies (grant/loan mechanisms, pay equity, cooperative hiring, designation of shortage zones) that translate intention into impact. 
• Thank you for leading this process. NAFV looks forward to further partnering with USDA, Congress, veterinary schools, and rural stakeholders to implement these strategies effectively. 
• And I’d like to thank you on behalf of our members and the almost 3,000 current federal veterinarians.