A bill passed last session could help fill an important gap in Colorado’s sprawling rural regions, attracting large animal veterinarians to the state’s cattle country, The Fence Post newspaper noted last week.

House Bill 1282 allows veterinarians who currently live in Colorado to qualify for up to $70,000 in student loan forgiveness if they’re willing to practice four years in rural region determined to have a shortage of veterinarians by a newly created council.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Joann Ginal, D-Fort Collins, and Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling.

The state in annual increments will transfer $140,000 into the program, which then relies on gifts, grants and donations to help up to four rural veterinarians a year. The state program is modeled after a federal counterpart that provides up to $25,000 for large-animal vets willing to work in underserved areas for up to three years.

The bill was drafted by the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association, The Fence Post reported.

“It’s a multifaceted problem and it takes a dedicated effort from the veterinary college, the community that has the need and from the veterinary profession,” Ashley Stokes, the assistant vice president for engagement and the deputy director of the Colorado State Extension, told reporter Rachel Spencer.

“The bill is one piece of that to help alleviate financial pressure on recent graduates so that if they want to pursue a practice in a rural area, they are able to do that and get more established.”

Sonnenberg, a rancher himself, said the bill is aimed at luring veterinarians away from better-paying opportunities out to the country, where they’re needed.

“With the demand for small animal clinics in urban areas where this same veterinarian can work a normal schedule and demand more money to pay the high cost of their education, we find that students coming out of college have less of a desire to fill those rural, large animal practices,” he told The Fence Post.