Kansas City, Mo. ? The vast cattle pens that once helped move much of the nation’s meat supply are gone, replaced by aging warehouses and the frequent belief that this former frontier town left its agricultural roots far behind.

But not so fast. With little apparent care and feeding, the business of keeping animals well and productive has continued to thrive here, with one consultant estimating that about one out of every three dollars spent around the globe on animal health care flows through the Kansas City metro area.

It’s a statistic that has shocked many of the city’s business leaders and led them to suddenly reverse course, embracing Kansas City’s “cow town” past and using it as leverage to gain an even larger share of the market.

“I don’t think anyone had sat down and put a pencil to it,” said Dallas-based consultant Ron Brakke, who released his findings last year.

According to Brakke, animal health companies headquartered in the area, which include firms making vaccines and other pharmaceutical drugs for livestock and pets, now account for roughly a third of both that industry’s $14.2 billion in global sales and its $5 billion in U.S. sales.

He added that the area’s share of global sales has doubled since 2001, when five of the companies had yet to move to Kansas City or weren’t involved in animal health.

Aggressive effort

Area business and government leaders have kicked off an aggressive initiative to create an animal science “corridor” in the region and attract even more like-minded companies.

They’re also hoping that expanding the knowledge of their expertise in animal health will boost their efforts to develop a life science center.

“It was because of the existing infrastructure and organic growth that attracted those companies,” said Robert Marcusse, chief executive of the Kansas City Area Development Council. “What we’re trying to do is take the momentum that we have already and accelerate it.”

More than 120 companies in a region stretching from Manhattan, Kan., to Columbia, Mo., provide product development, manufacturing, distribution or support services to the industry, employing more than 5,000 people, including 500 researchers.

They range from industry giants like Bayer HealthCare’s Animal Health Division, maker of such things as industry-leading flea medication Advantage and Advantix, to specialty firms like Crest Flavor Co., which produces pet food additives.

Troy Minor works the line last week at Bayer HealthCare in Shawnee. Area business and government leaders have kicked off an aggressive initiative to create an animal science corridor in the region and attract even more like-minded companies.

Four of the world’s top 10 animal health companies are either based in the area or use Kansas City as their U.S. headquarters, including Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Fort Dodge Animal Health and Intervet Inc.

IVX Animal Health, the world’s largest generic pharmaceutical manufacturer, is based in nearby St. Joseph, while Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a leading pet food maker, is based in Topeka.

Industry members said the Kansas City region provides a number of benefits that has allowed it to collect a disproportionate share of the industry. Chief among them, Brakke says, is that almost half of the nation’s fed cattle, more than 40 percent of its hogs and 20 percent of beef cattle are raised within 350 miles of Kansas City, placing businesses in the midst of their customers.

Supply of resources

Companies also can take advantage of a ready supply of trained workers, not only from veterinary programs at Kansas State University and the University of Missouri, but from similar veterinary and lab technician training programs at Oklahoma State University, the University of Nebraska and Iowa State University.

Kansas City also is a transportation hub, helping companies amass raw materials and distribute their products by rail, truck or air.

Synbiotics Corp., which makes veterinary tests for such things as heartworm and avian flu, is another operation finding a home in the region. The company announced in August it was moving its headquarters from San Diego to Kansas City.

“Often there’s a heightened amount of testing once a company comes up with a cure or vaccine, so being able to team up with other animal health companies is important,” said Paul Hayes, the company’s chief executive.

Joerg Ohle, president of Bayer’s Animal Health division and chairman of the local initiative’s advisory board, said state leaders had been receptive to the industry, providing tax and investment incentives. He said that as scientists are increasingly finding links and human medical discoveries through treating diseases and disorders in pets, building on animal science will give the two states an edge in the national race to develop bioscience industries.

“The community understands this is within life science,” he said. “It’s one piece of the puzzle.”

Learn more about the animal-health initiative at www.kcanimalhealth.com