{"id":29673,"date":"2026-03-25T11:41:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T15:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=29673"},"modified":"2026-03-27T14:40:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:40:22","slug":"news-release-maryland-department-of-agriculture-announces-next-steps-to-address-rural-veterinary-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2026\/03\/25\/news-release-maryland-department-of-agriculture-announces-next-steps-to-address-rural-veterinary-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"NEWS RELEASE: Maryland Department of Agriculture Announces Next Steps to Address Rural Veterinary Shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\"><strong>ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 25, 2026)<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\">The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) today announced the release of recommendations developed in partnership with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmjournalfoundation.org\/\">Farm Journal Foundation<\/a> to address the shortage of rural and food-systems veterinarians across the state.<b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\">The recommendations build on a statewide assessment and outline immediate next steps focused on engagement, data, and long-term workforce development.<b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/mda.maryland.gov\/AnimalHealth\/Documents\/FJF-Maryland%20Assessment%20Report%20FINAL%201_28_26.pdf\">report<\/a> highlights several key findings, including gaps in data on the current veterinary workforce, underutilization of available federal funding programs, and the need to better understand demand, particularly among small and growing farm operations.<b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\"><strong>Immediate Next Steps<\/strong><b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\">MDA will focus on two near-term priorities:<b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\">Statewide Engagement and Communication \u2013 The Department will share the assessment findings broadly across the veterinary, education, and agricultural communities and ensure stakeholders are engaged in shaping next steps.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\">Summit and Solutions Development \u2013 MDA will host a statewide summit to bring together veterinarians, educators, and agricultural leaders to review findings, identify challenges, and begin developing solutions. The summit will serve as a launching point for a coordinated, collaborative effort to strengthen Maryland\u2019s rural veterinary workforce.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\">\u201cThis report gives us a clear path forward,\u201d said Secretary Kevin Atticks. \u201cNow, it\u2019s about bringing the right partners together and turning these recommendations into action to build a stronger, more sustainable veterinary workforce.\u201d<b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\">\u201cRural veterinarians are essential to protecting animal health, supporting our farmers, and safeguarding the food supply,\u201d said State Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Trout. \u201cThese recommendations reflect what we\u2019re seeing on the ground and create an opportunity to better connect veterinarians with the communities that need them most.\u201d<b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;font-size: 12pt\">Following the summit, MDA will establish a working group made up of key stakeholders across the veterinary, agricultural, and education sectors. This group will be charged with developing practical, actionable solutions to improve recruitment, retention, and long-term sustainability of rural veterinary services.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 25, 2026) \u2013\u00a0The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) today announced the release of recommendations developed in partnership with the Farm Journal Foundation to address the shortage of rural and food-systems veterinarians across the state. The recommendations build on a statewide assessment and outline immediate next steps focused on engagement, data, and long-term<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2026\/03\/25\/news-release-maryland-department-of-agriculture-announces-next-steps-to-address-rural-veterinary-shortage\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[403,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mda-newsroom","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29673"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29676,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29673\/revisions\/29676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}