A scholarship from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation is helping grow the next crop of veterinarians at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine. Melissa Haag is this year’s recipient of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Scholarship. A committee selects recipients for the scholarship based on their interest in practicing medicine with large, farm livestock, having a farm background, Farm Bureau affiliation, academics and financial need.

Haag will receive $3,000 over the course of two years. More than $45,000 has been awarded to 44 individuals since the scholarship was endowed in 1985.

Haag is a Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, native who first began working with animals on her grandparents’ farm, as a 4-H member, and at a local pet boarding facility. During her undergraduate study at UW-Madison, she met her future husband, Josh Haag, a dairy farmer from Dane County.

“Through him, I developed my strong love of farming and dairy cattle,” Haag said. “I became very active with the farm and helping with the cattle. I also developed a relationship with the local veterinary clinic and worked with the large animal veterinarians. These experiences helped me decide that a career in large animal medicine was definitely what I wanted to pursue.”

Following graduation she would like to work at a large animal veterinary clinic in southwestern Wisconsin as a general dairy practitioner, but eventually would like to focus on embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization technologies. PD

—From Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation news release