Why is there such a need for food animal vets?

It seems many schools are doing things to incentivize students to try and go into food animal medicine, some schools will even give you financial aid if you go into food animal med and then committing a few years to a rural area to practice. Is the shortage that huge? I'm just so curious why so few students want to go into that part of vet med!
Source: Student Doctor Network - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Pre-Veterinary Source Type: forums