Buffetting : Farm vs City

I’ve always thought stepping into the veterinary medicine field would deem a path for me to get closer to nature, definitely more than human medicine. However, trying to balance between my daily non-vet life and vet life have made me think even deeper on what I really wish to go about in the future.

Veterinary medicine is interesting in which it allows a wide array of career outcome; from small animal medicine, pharmaceuticals, public health, consumer food health, animal production, wildlife to turf clubs; there’s just so many to choose. I’ve always wanted to venture into animal production because of my body size advantages, in which putting them to good use in restraining animals and driving a healthy production really brings back lucrative returns.

So the struggles. What are they exactly?

1- Farm setting. Being in farms means being away from the city, away from the luxurious settings and definitely the urban setting I have always been in. Of course, travelling is still possible, but the best way and best practice to sustain a healthy farm medicine practice is to stay in-farm; maintaining its biosecurity, as well as the 24 emergency calling thing. It means if I’ve decided to stay with animal production and farming, it would take away my work out facilities and the only thing I have with me is probably jogging around the farm or lifting weights in my dorm. Something which I think I wouldn’t like since I enjoy Body Combat and Body Pump a lot. Let’s not begin with the family and friends issues, though I seldom face even as of now.



2- The Industry. Stepping into poultry and porcine industry before my selected industry, dairy has been challenging mentally. The returns are indeed lucrative due to the underdeveloped dairy industry in our country. With bribing ministers to stressful climate lowering the productivity of the cows, dairy industry seemed to be bleak to be ventured into. Now, the question is, do I stick to my passion of dairy industry, or do I venture into newer industries for funding first? Another dilemma would be my reduce-killing issue. I’m trying my best to not break the 1st precept in my Dhamma teaching, which is to refrain from killing. Although unwanted male cattles are being culled since they are not exactly the wanted resources in dairy; parts and comparison to poultry and swine, dairy still stands a lower tendency and percentile in killing in my opinion. Swaying to poultry or swine would really defeat my purpose and aim at the first place to stick with the dairy ruminant industry.



There are more struggles but I have yet to put them into concrete ideas and considerations. I will need more time on that. One would ask me to allow more time for myself to know more about the profession and industry, but I’m trying my best to set an aim instead of JUST following the course of time till I have graduated. I might not have the best final year project by then.