title: Factors affecting use of veterinarians by small-scale food animal operations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify factors associated with use of a veterinarian by small-scale food animal operations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional descriptive survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  16,000 small-scale farm or ranch operations in all 50 states.
  
  
  METHODS
  Surveys were conducted via mail or telephone during 2011 for small-scale operations (gross annual agricultural sales between $10,000 and $499,999) in which an animal or animal product comprised the highest percentage of annual sales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  8,186 (51.2%) operations responded to the survey; 7,849 surveys met the inclusion criteria. For 6,511 (83.0%) operations, beef cattle were the primary animal species. An estimated 82.1% of operations (95% confidence interval [CI], 81.1% to 83.0%) had a veterinarian available ≤ 29 miles away; 1.4% (95% CI, 1.2% to 1.7%) did not have a veterinarian available within 100 miles of the operation. Operations for which the nearest veterinarian was ≥ 100 miles away or for which a veterinarian was not available were located in 40 US states. Overall, 61.7% of operations (95% CI, 60.6% to 62.9%) had used a veterinarian during the 12 months prior to the survey. Producers with college degrees were significantly more likely to use a veterinarian (675%) versus those who did not complete high school (52.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results of this study indicated most small-scale operations had adequate access to veterinarians during 2011, but there seemed to be localized shortages of veterinarians in many states.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, Veterinary Services, APHIS, USDA, 2150 Centre Ave, Building B, Fort Collins, CO 80526.
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Beam
authors.forename: Dawn D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Thilmany
authors.forename: Lindsey P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Garber
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Van Metre
authors.forename: Randy W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Kopral
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Olea-Popelka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States; D018634:Veterinarians; D055815:Young Adult