While veterinarians are needed more than ever in rural Iowa, especially wth the federal Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) in effect, it’s getting tougher to find food-animal veterinarians close to home. A loan repayment program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture is working to change this trend.

"There’s a great need for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP)," said Dr. David Schmitt, state veterinarian with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. "The VMLRP is similar to programs that encourage physicians and dentists to practice in underserved areas."

Implemented in 2010, the VMLRP pays up...