AVMA calls on veterinarians to lobby for Farm Bill

Washington - 4/8/08 - The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) wants veterinarians to pressure lawmakers to support the Senate's version of the Farm Bill.

House-Senate negotiations concerning the five-year omnibus package have hit gridlock over money issues, and the two sides have yet to enter conference committee. At press time, the House had not named its conferees. Lawmakers extended the deadline to hammer out the estimated $280-billion deal to April 18, when a temporary extension of the 2002 law expires. President Bush indicates he will not support another extension.

The bill, formally known as the Food and Energy Security Act, provides subsidies for most things agriculture.

AVMA favors the Senate's version because it's laden with programs pertaining to veterinary medicine, including:

- $2.5 million per year through 2012 for the financially strapped federal Food Animal Residue Avoidance Database (FARAD). The program was established in 1982 to provide veterinarians information on how to rid livestock of drugs and contaminants. "We're pretty certain we can keep this in the Farm Bill," says Dr. Mark Lutschaunig, director of AVMA's Governmental Relations Division. "We need to get to the point where we have a multi-year funding source. The program can't retain staff when funding is only available for a year."

- Language to launch Regional Centers for Excellence in Food Systems Veterinary Medicine, which creates a competitive grants program for accredited veterinary medical schools to establish Regional Centers of Emphasis with expertise in an individual food-animal species. These centers would provide educational experiences for students geared toward research, food-supply bioterrorism prevention and surveillance, food safety and environmental improvements. While the language does not specify a dollar amount, lawmakers are hesitant to provide money to build new buildings, Lutschaunig says.

- Veterinary Loan Repayment Program language that calls for expedited implementation of the National Veterinary Medical Service Act, which would provide education-loan repayment for veterinarians working in underserved areas.

- Tax breaks for companies that research and produce drugs for minor species. The language acts as an extension of the 2004 Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Health Act. It provides an "extra incentive" for companies to create drugs for uncommon diseases in major species and diseases in minor species, Lutschaunig says.