From the editor
We just wrapped up our first ever Veterinary Medicine Extension Winter Conference held in Spokane on Saturday, January 11. My colleague in Veterinary Medicine Extension, Dr. Caio Figueiredo, gave us the nudge to try something new and we ended up with over 20 veterinarians in attendance! Topics ranged from beef cattle reproduction to honey bee management, small ruminant Johne’s and parasitism to backyard poultry. It was a great day and one that we will endeavor to replicate over the coming years—but with a longer lunch break for the all-important networking.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for additional CE opportunities keep in mind that our 2025 WSU CVM Spring Conference will be held here in Pullman from March 21-23. As always there will be 12 hours of CE available across large and small animal tracks alongside a track for technicians & assistants.
In other news, Caio is dragging us into the 21st century by expanding our Veterinary Medicine Extension communication platforms to LinkedIn and YouTube with the goal to offer easy access to Extension materials, including short videos, webinars, articles, and events. The QR code will take you to our new LinkedIn site.
On a final note, I have been involved in a few discussions lately related to the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) and Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP). I suspect that most of you have heard about the VMLRP program which is authorized by the National Veterinary Medical Services Act (NVMSA) to help qualified veterinarians offset a significant portion of the debt incurred from receiving their veterinary medicine degrees, in return for their service in certain high-priority veterinary shortage situations. NIFA carries out NVMSA by entering into educational loan repayment agreements with veterinarians who agree to provide veterinary services in veterinarian shortage situations for a determined period of time.
It seems, however, that the VSGP may not be as well known. There are two types of grants for VSGP: Education, Extension, and Training (EET) and Rural Practice Enhancement (RPE). I just want to highlight the opportunities within the RPE grant, that are meant to support the development and provision of veterinary services to substantially relieve designated rural veterinary shortage situations, and support education or extension needs specified in the shortage area nomination. Funds may be used for varying reasons such as 1) equipping veterinary offices, 2) purchasing clinical equipment such as animal restraints, diagnostic and therapeutic tools, such as chutes, imaging equipment, head gates, hoof trimming instruments, breeding soundness examinations, etc., or 3) establishing mobile veterinary facilities such as a vehicle equipped to provide mobile veterinary services, mobile restraint devices, veterinary truck inserts, point of care testing equipment, etc. Importantly, RPE applicants can only apply to serve one veterinary shortage situation area, and it is imperative that applicants make a compelling case describing how the equipment, mobile facilities, personnel, or other resources supported by the grant will contribute substantially toward the objectives and/or mitigation of the veterinary service needs described in the specific shortage situation area they are applying to serve. Additionally, funds cannot be used to construct new buildings or facilities or to acquire, expand, remodel, or alter an existing building or facility, including site grading and improvement and architect fees. For more information regarding either the VMLRP or VSGP, you can email vsgp@usda.gov, or reach out directly to the National Program Leader, Dr. Kathe Bjork, at kathe.e.bjork@usda.gov.
Stories in this issue
- The association between periparturient body condition score and body condition score change and subsequent performance of dairy cows As cows go through intense changes in nutrient energy balance, and other metabolic processes, it is important to carefully manage them to avoid subsequent problems such as high incidences of postpartum diseases, reduced milk production, subfertility, and culling.
- Immunity in transition cows A look at some data is worthwhile and certainly suggests that we need to focus on supporting the transition cow during early lactation.
- Understanding low to no colostrum production An Invited Review came out in December in Applied Animal Science (Vol. 40, Issue 6, 791-801) that addresses the complexities influencing colostrum production in dairy cows.
- Rumen protozoa and viruses I have always been fascinated by ruminants and specifically their rumens. During my undergrad years I had the chance to do an independent study into in vitro analysis of feeds and the rumen microbiota with the legendary Peter Van Soest
- WSU Ag Animal Faculty Research Updates, January 2025 Investigating relationships between the host genome, rumen microbiome, and dairy cow feed efficiency using mediation analysis with structural equation modelingRevealing host genome-microbiome networks underlying feed efficiency in dairy cowsProcurement and preservation of neonatal porcine cardiac tissueTranscriptomics of bovine sperm and oocytes
- WSU College of Veterinary Medicine senior paper highlights, January 2025