Montana practice hired an associate to split on-call duty

Stillwater Veterinary Clinic in Absarokee, Montana, hired an additional veterinarian to meet demand across a large geographic area, and the practice became the subject of a Zoetis documentary premiere in Livingston last month, Northern Ag Network reported.

The shortage the hire addresses

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates cited by Northern Ag Network, "more than 500 counties across 46 states experienced a shortage of large-animal veterinary care in 2025."

Dr. Lacey Fahrmeier, owner and partner at Stillwater Veterinary Clinic, told Northern Ag Network that addressing the shortage requires "recruiting people who genuinely want to serve rural communities" and "providing the financial and professional support necessary to make those practices sustainable."

"I think there's quite a few solutions out there," Fahrmeier said. "Some of it has to do with recruiting the right people who have that community mindset, that want to live this lifestyle and serve producers."

Finding the right people is only part of what a practice needs, Fahrmeier noted. Northern Ag Network reported that "rural veterinary medicine is not necessarily the most lucrative career path, and the financial challenges can be significant for someone graduating with substantial student debt and looking to start or join a practice."

Fahrmeier said that "assistance with the cost of establishing a business in underserved areas could make a difference in attracting veterinarians." "If we could provide some financial assistance for those to go explore business opportunities in some more of these rural areas where maybe there's not as much financial support, it could go a long ways in helping them get off the ground and then continue to grow that business," she said.

Veterinary graduates often leave school with $200,000 in student loans, according to Northern Ag Network. The report noted that "opening a practice can require additional investments in equipment, facilities and other assets."

The mentorship gap that four years of vet school leaves

Fahrmeier said the support veterinarians receive needs to continue well beyond graduation. "Having a network of good mentors I think is really invaluable that you can call on because you can't learn it all in four years," she said.

Dr. Rosslyn Biggs, director of the Center for Rural Veterinary Medicine at Oklahoma State University, "emphasized the role practicing veterinarians play in encouraging students to consider rural careers" during the Zoetis event, Northern Ag Network reported. Biggs "pointed to the importance of being honest about both the rewards and challenges of rural practice," and noted that "job shadowing, mentoring and internships can help students understand what the work" involves, according to the report.

Northern Ag Network reported that "loan repayment programs tied to working in underserved areas were another tool discussed during the event." Dr. Jesse Olsen of Stillwater Veterinary Clinic said "those programs can help reduce student debt while bringing needed veterinary services to rural communities," the report noted.

The on-call burden that drives veterinarians out

Northern Ag Network reported that "recruiting new veterinarians does little to address the shortage if clinics cannot keep them in practice." "One of the biggest challenges discussed during the Livingston event was the burden of providing emergency services," according to the report.

Dr. Todd Gunderson, a clinical assistant professor at Kansas State University, "shared research and survey findings indicating that the expectation of being available for emergencies around the clock is one of the most frequently cited reasons veterinarians leave large-animal and rural practices," Northern Ag Network reported.

Rural clinics face a difficult balance, the report noted. "Producers depend on veterinarians being available when emergencies arise, but the demands of providing that service can make it difficult for veterinarians to maintain a manageable workload," according to Northern Ag Network.

Gunderson noted that "a recent survey of cow-calf producers found the vast majority consider emergency availability the most valuable part of their relationship with a veterinarian," the report said.

Fahrmeier said that "adding another associate veterinarian at Stillwater Veterinary Clinic has helped distribute the on-call responsibilities and improve work-life balance for the entire team." "Just the addition of one more veterinarian in the practice made a big difference for the entire team," she said.

Fahrmeier "also emphasized the importance of helping younger associates develop their skills and become successful in the profession," Northern Ag Network reported. "When we hire younger associates, we need to make sure we mentor them and help them become better veterinarians," Fahrmeier said. "It takes effort to recruit them, and it is important to help them thrive in this career with some extra guidance."

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The Kansas program's retention data

Gunderson "discussed the Veterinary Training Program for Rural Kansas as an example of how targeted recruitment and training efforts can help address shortages," Northern Ag Network reported. According to figures shared during the event, "95% of program graduates are fulfilling or have fulfilled their commitment to practice in a rural county," the report noted. "Among those who completed their four-year commitment," 86 percent remain in a qualifying county, while 92 percent are still practicing in Kansas, according to Northern Ag Network.

Our read

The Stillwater case shows that adding one associate can meaningfully distribute on-call load, but the economics of making that hire work in a rural practice remain unaddressed in the documentary framing. Fahrmeier's point about financial assistance for establishing rural practices is the structural piece, but the source does not name what form that assistance takes or who would fund it.

The Kansas program's 86 percent post-commitment retention rate is the strongest number in the source, and it suggests that targeted loan-repayment programs tied to rural service can work if the commitment period is long enough to let a veterinarian build relationships and see the practice stabilize. For a practice owner, the relevant detail is whether your state runs a similar program and whether the reimbursement timeline matches your cash-flow reality while you wait for the associate to arrive.

For an associate weighing a rural posting, the calculation is whether the loan-repayment benefit plus the lifestyle Fahrmeier describes offsets the comp gap and the extended on-call exposure during the commitment period. The source does not give the dollar value of the loan programs discussed, so we cannot run that calculation here, but the detail to ask the recruiter is what the annual forgiveness amount is and how many years of service it requires.

The producer-relationship point Fahrmeier makes at the end is real but puts the sustainability issue on the client rather than the practice's pricing model. A herd-health consultation generates revenue, but if the practice cannot charge enough to make the trip profitable at rural distances, asking producers to schedule more of them does not fix the unit economics.

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