Effect of demographic trends in livestock inventory and number of operations on food animal veterinary practices in the United States

Abstract

Livestock inventory and the number of operations are the main source of income that supports food animal veterinary practices in rural areas. Over time, they provide a description of industry trends and serve as data points or baseline for comparisons for service providers (e.g., veterinarians), input suppliers, producers, and government, among others. Food animal veterinary supply (shortage) has recently been a source of debate in academia and representative organizations. The objectives of the present study were: 1) to estimate the trends of livestock inventory (dairy, beef, sheep, and swine) and the number of operations by size (≤ 99, 100-499, and ≥ 500 head) from 1982 to 2010 in the US and 2) to compare these trends with the designated areas of food animal veterinary shortage for 2010 in the US.