More veterinary medicine seats at USask

Sep 30, 2022

The Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) at the University of Saskatchewan will have an extra ten student seats next year.

The action is being taken to address the growing need for veterinarians across the province, particularly for large animal and mixed animal veterinarians in rural Saskatchewan.

In 2023-24, the number of subsidized student seats will increase from 20 to 25 at WCVM.

The provincial government will provide $11.9 million to the WCVM. The new commitment to add seats will mean an investment of $539,000 in 2023-24, increasing each year to $2.2 million by 2026-27 when fully implemented over the four-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program.

Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit said there have been concerns expressed about the livestock sector.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.