US market for food animal veterinary medical services

American agribusiness is undergoing significant change and stress. In the future, agriculture faces continued instability and uncertainty because of ever-changing global economic conditions, rapid technological advances, increasing production efficiencies, shifts in demand for agricultural products, and a growing dependence of US producers on increasingly competitive world markets. In order to better understand changes and trends facing food animal veterinarians, the AVMA's Executive Board at its March 1986 meeting approved a proposal from the Council on Public Relations for a study of the US food animal market for veterinary medical services. The objectives of the study were to describe the current market for veterinary medical services, products, and information; determine and explain the demand for food animal veterinary services provided by private practicing veterinarians; and identify markets representing potential demand for which marketing strategies could be developed.