Solicitation of Veterinary Shortage Situation Nominations

1. General Background Information
   1. Eligible Shortage Situations
   2. State Allocation of Nominations
   3. Process for Submitting Veterinary Shortage Situation Nominations
   4. Periods Covered
   5. Definitions
2. Nomination Form
3. NIFA Review of Shortage Situation Nominations
   1. Review Panel Composition and Process
   2. Review Criteria

1. General Background Information

a. Eligible Shortage Situations : Section 1415A of NARETPA, as amended and revised by Section 7105 of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act, directs determination of veterinarian shortage situations for the VMLRP to consider (1) geographical areas that the Secretary determines have a shortage of veterinarians; and (2) areas of veterinary practice that the Secretary determines have a shortage of veterinarians, such as food animal medicine, public health, epidemiology, and food safety. Priority is given to shortage situations involving the practice of food animal medicine.

The NVMSA (as amended) specifies priority to be given to food animal medicine shortage situations, and that consideration also be given to specialty areas such as public health, epidemiology and food safety, the Act does not identify any areas of veterinary practice as ineligible. All nominated veterinary shortage situations will be considered eligible for submission.

The shortages designated for VMLRP applicants are also available for VSGP applicants applying to the Rural Practice Enhancement (RPE) component of the program. The shortage situation areas for RPE consideration under the VSGP must also be designated rural as defined in section 343(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)). Nominations describing either public or private practice veterinary shortage situations are eligible for submission.

b. Allocation of Nominations : NIFA will accept the number of nominations equivalent to the maximum number of designated shortage areas for each State or territory. For historical background and more information on the rationale for capping nominations and State or Insular Area allocation method, visit https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/veterinary-medicine-loan-repayment-program/vmlrp-shortage-situations.

The maximum number of nominations (and potential designations) is based on data from the 2022 Agricultural Census conducted by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Awards from previous years have no bearing on a State's or Insular Area's maximum number of allowable nomination submissions or designations in any given year, or number of nominations or designations allowed for subsequent years. NIFA reserves the right in the future to proportionally adjust the maximum number of designated shortage situations per State or Insular Area to ensure a balance between available funds and the requirement that priority is given to mitigating veterinary shortages corresponding to situations of greatest need.

Nomination Allocation tables are available under the VMLRP Shortage Situations section of the VMLRP website at https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/veterinary-medicine-loan-repayment-program/vmlrp-veterinary-shortage-situation-nomination-guide-forms.

While Federal Lands are widely dispersed within States and Insular Areas across the country, they constitute a composite total land area over twice the size of Alaska. If the 200-mile limit for U.S. coastal waters and associated fishery areas are included, Federal Land total acreage would exceed 1 billion acres. Both State and Federal Animal Health officials have responsibilities for matters relating to terrestrial and aquatic food animal health on Federal Lands. Interaction between wildlife and domestic livestock, such as sheep and cattle, is particularly common in the plains States where significant portions of Federal lands are leased for grazing. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) ensures food safety in processing plants via Federal veterinarians' inspection of meat, poultry, Siluriformes and eggs. These Federal veterinarians ensure food is safe for human consumption and properly packaged and labeled. Therefore, both SAHOs and the US Chief Veterinary Medical Officer (Deputy Administrator of APHIS-Veterinary Services or designee) may submit nominations to address shortage situations on or related to Federal Lands, or the USDA-FSIS Federal Lands are allocated a maximum number of designations each fiscal year for submission by the Federal Chief Veterinary Officer. Nominations related to Federal Lands or USDA-FSIS submitted by SAHOs will count towards the maximum number of nominations for that individual state.

NIFA emphasizes that the shortage nomination allocation is set to broadly balance the number of designated shortage situations across States prior to the nomination and award phases of the VMLRP and VSGP. Awards will be made based strictly on the peer review panel's assessment according to each program's review criteria; thus, no State, Insular Area or Federal designation will be given a preference for placement of awardees.

c. Process for Submitting Veterinary Shortage Situation Nominations : For the FY2027 annual program cycle, all eligible nominating officials submitting may submit new nominations. Due to changes in the nomination solicitation process, if a nominating official wishes to retain a specific shortage from the previous year, it will need to be submitted as a new nomination. The total number of new nominations may not exceed the maximum number of nominations each entity is allocated.

The following process is the mechanism for retaining a designated nomination: Each nominating official should review the map of VMLRP designated shortage situations for the previous year (a map of shortages can be found here: https://www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp-map) and download a PDF copy of the nomination form they wish to renew. If the nominating official wishes to retain (carry over) one or more designated nomination(s), the nominating official shall copy and paste the prior year information into the current year's nomination form online. Both new and retained nominations must be submitted on the Veterinary Shortage Situation Nomination MS form. See "Submission" above for more information.

In FY2027, all shortage nominations will be treated as new and undergo merit review.

If a state elects not to participate in the nomination process in a given year, the SAHO, or their designee, will notify the NIFA Program Office by email at [email protected] prior to the deadline to submit shortage nominations each year the state elects not to participate.

d. Periods Covered : Each veterinary shortage situation is designated for up to two fiscal years. By resubmitting information from a prior year nomination, the nominating official is affirming that the original case made for shortage status, and the original description of needs, remain current and accurate. Veterinary shortage situations where an award was made, if still considered deficient of services and economically viable, may be resubmitted as new nominations.

e. Definitions : A complete list of terms pertaining to the VMLRP with their description can be found at CFR 3431.3 or in the VMLRP Glossary.

2. Nomination Form

All completed forms must be submitted directly to NIFA using MS Forms. See "Submission" above for more information.

Resources to complete each field can be found at https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/veterinary-medicine-loan-repayment-program/vmlrp-shortage-situations (see Webinar for Submitting Officials).

3. NIFA Review of Shortage Situation Nominations

a. Review Panel Composition and Process : The NIFA team will review the submitted nominations and consider any recommendations. The NIFA team will finalize the veterinary services shortage designations and publish them on the veterinary services shortage situation map at https://www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp-map.

b. Review Criteria : Criteria used for the shortage situation nomination review by NIFA for designating a veterinary shortage situation will be consistent with the information requested in the shortage situations nomination form. The nomination form provides officials the opportunities to present both metrics and narrative explanations to define and explain the proposed need.

Nominators are encouraged to present verifiable quantitative and qualitative information wherever possible. Insufficient information to support a shortage, such as missing animal and/or veterinarian census or other population data for the proposed shortage area(s), or insufficient information describing the shortage, may lead the panel to recommend revision of the nomination to address these issues. If the revisions are not addressed, the shortage nominations will not be designated.