- The Texas Tech School of Veterinary Medicine is preparing to launch students’ clinical year next May. Its inaugural class is now in the third year of the four-year program. The structure of the year is distinct from what other institutions employ, according to school dean Dr. Guy Loneragan, who said a key element is the commitment and investment of carefully selected practices across rural and regional communities. As two examples, Hereford Veterinary Clinic in Hereford and Mobile Veterinary Practice in Amarillo are constructing new facilities to support both their practices and the school’s students. They also plan to host the school’s veterinary faculty to help supervise students and to deliver expanded veterinary medical services for animal owners. The school is working closely with dozens of other practices, regionally and across the state, to mentor and provide clinical settings for students.
- Colorado’s Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program, first created in 2017, will now pay up to $90,000 over four years to help licensed veterinarians in Colorado pay off their student debt as they work in underserved areas of the state, ABC Denver reports. This spring, the Colorado legislature revised Senate Bill 23-044 with a number of updates, including increasing the number of qualified annual applicants from four to six veterinarians, eliminating the requirement for applicants to have graduated from an accredited veterinary school in 2017 or later, increasing the total amount each applicant is eligible for over a four-year period from $70,000 to $90,000, increasing the yearly repayment amounts for successful applicants and requiring the state treasurer to transfer $540,000 from the general fund to the veterinary education loan repayment fund this September. The program is accepting new applicants.
- Bouts of rain in parts of the Midwest have alleviated the worst fears of drought-stricken corn crops and soybean crops, sending futures prices lower, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Corn Belt is dealing with another round of tough, dry conditions, but timely spurts of rainfall throughout the growing season have helped mitigate worries, according to surveys performed by scouts on the recent Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour. Following days of surveying fields through seven Corn Belt states, the trade publication projects a U.S. corn crop roughly 9% larger than the USDA’s figures for last year and a soybean crop 2.4% smaller.