Illinois Farm Bureau is accepting applications for its Illinois Veterinary Education and Training (IVET) loan program.
Loans are available to second-year veterinary students attending any accredited college of veterinary medicine in the U.S. and who are focusing on Illinois food animal medicine.
The IVET program loans up to $40,000 to as many as three veterinary students each year. Loans are made over a period of two to three years. IVET awards recipients a $1,500 stipend during their fourth year in school to help pay expenses associated with clinical rotations. Loans are repaid over five years, during which graduates must commit to working in a food animal practice that serves Illinois livestock producers.
“To succeed, farmers need the services of a food-animal veterinarian to help them care for their beef cattle, swine, sheep and poultry,” said Tasha Bunting, IFB associate director of commodities and livestock programs. “It’s an incredibly rewarding career field that has seen an increase in demand in recent years.”
Applications are due May 15 and can be found online, ilfb.org/IVET.
IFB established IVET in 2005. Since then, the organization has awarded more than $590,000 to 28 veterinary students who focus on caring for food animals in Illinois.
For more information about the program, contact Bunting at 309-557-2993 or tbunting@ilfb.org.