Idaho’s veterinarian shortage remains problematic

SALMON – Carl Lufkin’s ranch in Lemhi County raises seed Angus cattle, meaning he uses a veterinarian about twice as often as the average ranch to meet breeding fertility needs.

But he can’t take his animals to just any vet. Large animal veterinarians specialize in working with animals on ranches and farms. In a state where there are more cows than people, those veterinarians are in short supply, and federal beef and dairy regulations have only increased the pressure on those who work here.

An estimated 2.5 million cattle live in Idaho and are part of the state’s more than $12 billion beef and dairy industry. There are an additional 235,000 sheep and lambs in the state, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These numbers do not include the many other large animals farmed in the state.

All of these animals will need veterinary attention at some point.

However, Idaho does not have a veterinary school. This, coupled with Idaho’s agriculture-centric economy, rural landscape, an aging veterinarian population and cost barriers to entering the profession, has highlighted the state’s need to recruit and retain more veterinarians willing and able to work with large animals work.

Idaho Reports visited Lufkin Cattle Company this summer to discuss the needs and requirements of veterinary care on ranches. Large animal veterinarians are often on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week in case an emergency occurs on a ranch. Normally, Lufkin said, he can get a vet on site in half an hour.

“But I’ve had cases where … they’re out of town for some reason and you can’t get a hold of anyone, and I’ve loaded up animals and hauled them to Idaho Falls, which is basically … a three-hour drive” in the winter said Lufkin.

A three-hour wait for emergency veterinary care is not uncommon in other rural parts of the state, he said.

The state veterinarian Dr. Scott Leibsle said ranchers have unique needs when caring for their animals.

“Some of the challenges faced by livestock producers in Idaho and throughout the United States is that certain tests or documents can only be provided by an accredited and licensed veterinarian,” Leibsle said. “An example of this is a health certificate. So if you are in business, be it a dairy or beef operation, you must have a certificate of veterinary inspection, also called a health certificate, signed by a veterinarian before these animal shipments leave the state. So only an accredited veterinarian can sign this.”

Common treatments such as antibiotics or vaccinations must also be carried out by a certified veterinarian.

The number of active large animal veterinarians in Idaho is not easy to determine.

While the Board of Veterinary Medicine has about 900 licensed veterinarians statewide, specialties are not tracked, Leibsle said. This total includes those who only treat small animals and exotic animals, government research veterinarians and industry professors. For example, when Leibsle transitioned from working as a large animal veterinarian to working as a government employee, his license did not change.

Leibsle said he can make educated estimates about the number of active large animal veterinarians based on the brucellosis vaccinations distributed each year. Vaccination is mandatory for female cattle in Idaho.

“As much as Idaho focuses on cattle, our livestock industry is so large, I know about 425,000 brucellosis vaccinations are administered each year,” he said. “The Ministry of Agriculture monitors this and 90% of the vaccinations carried out annually are carried out by around 50 veterinarians. So that tells me that 50 veterinarians are providing a really large portion of the cattle services that this state desperately needs.”

Cost of education

The cost of veterinary training is another obstacle many people face. Leibsle said students often leave school with more than $200,000 in debt.

Large animal veterinarians also cannot treat as many patients in a day as a small animal veterinarian because they usually travel to see patients.

“In a day you can only see three, four, five appointments,” Leibsle said. “Conversely, if you’re a small animal vet, people bring their pets to you and you can do 30 or 40 appointments a day. By definition, the earning power of small animal doctors differs significantly from that of large animal doctors.”

Additionally, many of these veterinarians are getting older. According to Leibsle, of the top 50 producing large animal veterinarians, 16% are over 60 and 10% are over 70.

Idaho has a partnership with Washington State that guarantees Idaho students 11 spots at veterinary school. However, typically only about 10% of veterinary students want to become large animal veterinarians.

The state is trying to remedy the shortage. In 2024, the Idaho Senate passed a resolution promoting a partnership with Utah State University’s veterinary school, similar to what Idaho currently has with Washington State.

Mike Keckler, legislative affairs officer with the State Board of Education, told Idaho Reports that Utah State University is willing to enter into an agreement, but lawmakers need to determine next steps to move forward.

The state is also working on incentives through the USDA’s Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Plan to cover some of the costs.

If the new graduate is willing to practice here and focus on a specific species of animal in need of veterinary assistance for three years, they can receive up to $75,000 toward loan repayment.

“The number one industry in Idaho is the dairy business,” Lufkin said. “Number two is the beef business. Most people think we’re all about potatoes, but dairy and beef are the two biggest economic drivers in the state of Idaho and we have to feed the world. So veterinarians are a critical part of two of the largest economic drivers in the state of Idaho.”