This spring on his ranch in Presho, Cooper Garnos has had to haul cattle 45 miles to Winner to see a veterinarian for Caesarian sections and other procedures.

"We do have a vet here but he's probably in his mid to high 80s, and he's served the community well," Garnos said, but for complicated or emergency work, he has to leave town.

The shortage of veterinarians in his area is why Garnos and other state lawmakers teamed up this past legislative session to try to create a loan repayment program that would attract more vets to rural South Dakota.

"It just seems there's less and less people who can give you professional help," Garnos said.

The bill he introduced, HB1127, died in committee, but Garnos said he thinks he helped raise awareness of the issue and may bring it up again next year.

The bill would have created a program in which each year, a board would select three vets willing to work full-time in food-animal and large-animal medicine, giving priority to those willing to work in the state's smallest communities. The chosen vets would have up to $80,000 in student loan debt repaid by the state over four years.

Not everyone agrees this is the best way to bring vets to rural communities or even that the state has a role.

First, as Garnos admits, the state is tight on money.

And the state already has a program that helps vets pay for their degrees. South Dakota can choose up to six students a year to attend Iowa State University's veterinary school, with South Dakota paying the difference between Iowa's in-state and out-of-state tuitions, for a total of tens of thousands of dollars per student.

As a tradeoff, the vet has to promise to practice in South Dakota and devote a portion of his or her practice to large-animal medicine.

But even with the offer of assistance, the state is not getting all six doctors back each year, according to the state Board of Regents, which oversees the program.

Those who don't return to South Dakota must pay back the difference in tuition.

Last year, only four future veterinarians signed up to take advantage of the program.

Wesley Wood, a Rapid City veterinarian who is himself a graduate of the Iowa State in-state tuition program, said he has mixed feelings about efforts to spend thousands bringing vets to South Dakota.

"I don't really know how much more the state can do," Wood said.

"They can make the people come back, but it's still not going to solve the long-term economic problem."

There are some national efforts in the works as well, though federal support has been slow to come. Veterinary groups have been pushing federal legislation that would award $1.5 billion in competitive grants so the nation's 28 veterinary schools could expand.

The schools currently graduate about 2,500 veterinarians annually, though that number hasn't grown for a couple of decades.

The Veterinary Medical Service Act, signed into law by President Bush in 2003, also is pending, delayed at the USDA by the rule-making process.

The act would provide tuition reimbursement to veterinarians who agree to work in underserved areas, whether the shortage is a rural area, discipline or government agency. So far, $1.875 million has been appropriated for it.

However, the agency entered into an agreement with the Food Safety Inspection Service to implement the program and hire more inspectors in February 2007, said Robert Hedberg, acting director of governmental and legislative affairs for USDA's research mission area.

Five new veterinarians have since been hired by the service with tuition reimbursement included as a hiring incentive. The cost: $150,000.

In the meantime, USDA officials have committed to working with Congress to find ways to speed and streamline the rulemaking process to aid the private veterinary sector.

Another effort to expand capacity at vet schools, Veterinary Workforce Expansion Act, is part of the current Farm Bill negotiations.

Some vets say part of the solution doesn't come from spending money.

"We need to change the image of the profession," said Sandra Holcomb, who bought a Spearfish practice to supplement her income as a rural large-animal vet.

"We need to promote our skills, we need to tell people what we can do. … It's a good profession to be in."