Committee hears bill to allow trained laypeople to perform cattle pregnancy checks with five-year sunset

Co-chair Helm opened a public hearing on Senate Bill 15 39 on Feb. 23, and Senator Todd Nash (Senate District 29) and agricultural stakeholders urged the committee to approve a measure that would allow trained laypeople to perform pregnancy checks in cattle and charge for that service.

Senator Todd Nash said the bill does not replace veterinarians but “allows those lay people that are very good at practicing that to be able to pregnancy check others and charge for that service.” He told the committee the measure includes a five-year sunset to test the approach and gives the Oregon Veterinary Medical Board authority to write implementing rules.

Supporters from agricultural groups described a severe shortage of veterinarians in rural parts of the state and argued the bill would improve access. "If you were to take the total number of veterinarians for the state, which as of this morning was just over 5,000 according to the vet board," Ryan Crabill of the Oregon Farm Bureau said, adding that the five top cattle-production counties have only about 156 veterinarians by population and the state has roughly 1,200,000 head of cattle. Diana Worth, president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, told the committee she supported the bill with amendments and said East-side counties have become critically short of veterinarians.

Several ranchers also testified in favor. Rusty Inglis, a Harney County rancher, said allowing trained individuals to perform pregnancy testing would "free up veterinarians to do treatments that require a highly trained individual like a vet" and noted existing OSU Extension training and producer knowledge in herd evaluation.

Veterinary groups and a retired veterinarian opposed the proposal. Glenn Kolb, director of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, said the association ‘‘is not in support of this bill’’ and warned that removing veterinarians from routine herd reproduction management could disrupt the veterinarian-client-patient relationship and reduce access to medical interpretation and emergency care. He noted alternatives already in use, including employee-performed palpation, on-farm ultrasound and noninvasive blood or milk tests.

Barrett Slinging, a retired large-animal veterinarian, told the committee he worried the bill would set a precedent of lowering professional health standards and could reduce veterinarians’ income streams, which might discourage practice in underserved areas. "I worry about the precedent," Slinging said, adding that pregnancy timing generally allows scheduling and raised disease-control concerns.

The committee closed the public hearing on SB 15 39 after testimony. No vote was taken; Chair Helm said both bills would return for a work session on Wednesday.

The matter now moves to a committee work session where proposed rulemaking language, the five-year sunset and any written amendments or clarifications will be considered.