Given the changing face of US and global agriculture, the symposium was an effort by the AVMA and those who provided financial support to proactively identify immediate and future needs of agribusinesses and to suggest opportunities for veterinarians to serve those needs. The intended audience included veterinary students, colleges of veterinary medicine, recent graduates, midcareer veterinarians, and others interested in new challenges or professional career enhancement, as well as the agribusiness community. This demand will prevail, despite ongoing environmental and food safety challenges. Consumers will continue to drive the market for products of animal origin. Veterinarians must be attuned and responsive to the desires of the agribusiness they serve.
Protein deficiencies are common in many parts of the world.
Soybean protein helps, but 22 percent of the protein in the human diet should come from animal sources. Milk and eggs are often part of even vegetarian diets throughout the world and are an excellent source of needed animal protein amino acids. At the same time, the need will increase for veterinarians who can be part of a multidisciplinary management team, assisting family operations as well as expanded entities and corporate giants. Many veterinarians are already meeting the challenge of nontraditional roles as consultants, managers, corporation officers, and entrepreneurial owners of agribusiness enterprises. Veterinarians' successes emphasize an opportunity for individuals in the profession to take advantage of the broad-based education provided by US schools and colleges of veterinary medicine.