ADAMS, N.Y. (NCC News) — The sound of a car starting marks another workday for Melanie Parker, a farm veterinarian who’s spent decades driving from barn to barn across upstate New York.
“I feel like some days I am a kindergarten teacher, and I say, ‘you all need to sit in a circle, and say nice things to each other,'” jokes Parker.
Parker is one of the few remaining large-animal veterinarians in Upstate New York who still makes in-person farm calls. She studied veterinary medicine in Scotland, but came to Adams to gain her licensing in the United States.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Every Mile Matters: Traveling vet keeps New York farms running
Kaitlin Campbell: In Adams, New York, it’s a routine Melanie Parker has known for more than 40 years.
*Car starting*
Campbell: Pressing the ignition and heading down another country road.
Melanie Parker: Yup, pregnant. That’s a picture of a 35-day-old embryo. You can see a little heartbeat there.
Campbell: But what she calls “work” might surprise you.
Parker: A lot of my job is around psychology. I don’t know if you’ve picked up on that.
Campbell: She’s a farm veterinarian.
Parker: Not a lot in that one… There we go.
Campbell: And she travels directly to her patients.
Parker: The first year was like… ‘I like farm animal practice.’ You get to work with your clients more.
Campbell: The first stop of the day is at the Gherke family farm. She’s ready.
*Gear click*
Campbell: Sleeves up.
Parker: I don’t want to get too dirty yet.
Campbell: Straight to work.
Parker: Oh, there’s a cutie calf.
Kyle Gherke: She’s knowledgeable. She cares. She’s an owner-operator as well, so she has a lot of empathy for what you’re going through, and she’ll drop what she’s doing. She’ll come right down for one cow, one issue, and really give it the attention it deserves.
Campbell: Melanie is an expert in all things cattle — and knows just how to give Serendipity an ultrasound.
Parker: She’s open. Follicle and CL on the left.
Campbell: In just an hour, one check is done. But the day is far from over.
Melanie gets to rinse.
*Water spraying*
Campbell: Repeat.
*Background buzzing*
Campbell: Clean.
Parker: It’s everywhere.
Campbell: And she does it all again at every farm she visits.
Parker: All right, here are my girls.
Campbell: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, farmland has decreased by 20 million acres since 2017 — leaving people like Melanie traveling up to 500 miles a week just to treat animals like these.
Parker: I keep track of my miles just to see where I’m at. I’m already at 4,100 miles on my car.
Campbell: These days, traveling vets like Melanie are hard to come by. The days are long, and fewer vets are willing to make the drive.
Stephen Holmes: In the 1960s, 50 to 60 percent of the population would have been involved in agriculture in one way or another. And today it’s about 2 percent. And that includes agribusiness people like myself.
Campbell: Stephen Holmes, a dairy farm consultant, says with fewer farms, fewer people enter this field.
Holmes: There aren’t as many large-animal practitioners out there, just physically, because there aren’t as many dairies.
Campbell: But that doesn’t stop her from building bonds that go beyond the barn.
Parker: I feel like a little — oh — like a grandmother type for her.
Campbell: In Brynn Richmond’s barn, Melanie is more than a vet. She’s become like family.
Richmond: She’ll be here at the drop of a hat, no questions asked. No matter what, she’ll be here. And instead of letting my horses suffer, she’ll be here to take care of them and help figure it out.
Campbell: And Brynn knows that without Melanie, most days would be nearly impossible.
Richmond: If one of my horses goes down in the pasture, I can’t get them in a trailer. So I have to have somebody come to me. If there are no traveling vets, I’m in serious trouble.
Parker: And unfortunately…
*Car starting*
Campbell: Just like that, she’s back on the road.
Parker: I think we all have bad days, and we go, ‘Nope, we can’t do that.’ But on the whole, it’s been a great career, and I don’t regret anything.
Campbell: Because she knows every mile she travels is worth it.
Parker: She’s pregnant. There’s the fetus right there.
Campbell: In Adams, New York, Kaitlin Campbell, NCC News.
“I kinda figured it out on my own,” said Parker, describing the moment she decided she wanted to practice on farm animals. “The first year was like, ‘Oh, I like farm animal practice.’ You get to work with your clients more.”
Her days are long and the drives even longer, but fewer people are choosing to enter the field. Less than 2% of veterinarians work with livestock, according to a 2023 Johns Hopkins study. Stephen Holmes, a dairy farm consultant, is seeing an increasing need for people like Parker.
“You can’t do everything yourself,” said Holmes, “and, there aren’t as many large animal practitioners out there…just physically because there aren’t as many dairies.”
Parker has felt the impact of the shortage firsthand. She drives 500 miles each week to help her clients.
“I just keep track of my miles to see where I’m at,” Parker said. “I’m already at 4,100 miles on my car. I just bought it on Sept. 12. So yeah, there’s a lot of miles already.”
Despite the shortage, Parker has formed close relationships with her clients over the course of her decades-long career. Brynn Richmond, a longtime client, said Parker is more than a veterinarian, she’s family.
“She’ll be here at the drop of a hat, no questions asked. She takes care of everyone,” Richmond said.
Parker’s overall knowledge in the field allows her to give expertise beyond veterinarian work, helping farm owners make the best decisions for the increasingly complex industry.
“We all have bad days and think, ‘nope, can’t do that,’” she said. “But it’s been a great career, and I don’t regret anything.”
Her dedication underscores the vital role veterinarians play in sustaining the region’s agricultural community, and the importance of maintaining a skilled workforce as farms continue to shrink and the demand for care grows.