{"id":7906,"date":"2022-11-30T15:23:47","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T22:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/?p=7906"},"modified":"2022-11-30T15:25:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T22:25:55","slug":"heartland-docs-explore-states-unique-regions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/heartland-docs-explore-states-unique-regions\/","title":{"rendered":"Heartland Docs explore state’s unique regions"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Kerri Rempp<\/strong><\/p>

Discover Northwest Nebraska<\/strong><\/p>

Most Nebraska ranchers and their veterinarians probably don\u2019t pay much attention to the scenery and historical significance of their surroundings when there\u2019s work to be done, but a recent trip to Northwest Nebraska by veterinarians Ben and Erin Schroeder of \u201cHeartland Docs, DVM\u201d combined all of those elements.<\/p>

The Schroeders made the trek from Hartington to Harrison to work cattle for client Jerry Stewart, who owns property in Sioux County. A vet tech and an assistant from Schroeders\u2019 Cedar County Veterinary Services joined them, visiting western Nebraska for the first time. Since launching their National Geographic Wild show in 2019 the couple said they\u2019ve had the opportunity to explore more of Nebraska.<\/p>

Whether its releasing raptors at Fontenelle Forest, watching the crane migration or working cattle in Northwest Nebraska, the Schroeders share the unique opportunities with camera crews and viewers each episode.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ve lived in Nebraska my entire life and never done some of these things,\u201d Ben said, adding that residents need to get out and discover everything the state has to offer. \u201cI told Erin there\u2019s one thing I love almost as much as her, and that\u2019s the state of Nebraska.\u201d<\/p>

Ben grew up in Cedar County before heading to Kansas State University for veterinary school, where he met Erin, a native of upstate New York. Two weeks later they were engaged; they eventually returned to Hartington to work with Ben\u2019s father, John, in his veterinary practice. They purchased the business in 2007 and expanded it to include offices in Yankton and Vermillion, South Dakota. With seven vets and 27 staff members, they were plenty busy, but took on the challenge of renovating historic buildings in their hometown.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cBen and I really enjoy historic buildings,\u201d Erin said.<\/p>

An Omaha World-Herald<\/em> story about their work, which includes the 1917 Hartington Hotel, dubbed them the next Chip and Joanna Gaines of \u201cFixer Upper\u201d fame.<\/p>

\u201cIt went out on the AP (Associated Press), and all these calls started coming in,\u201d Erin recalled.<\/p>

An initial pitch to renovate vet clinics held little interest for the Schroeders, but a 2018 Skype interview caught the attention of National Geographic Wild. In January 2019, Ben and Erin learned \u201cHeartland Docs, DVM\u201d would be picked up for one season.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget that phone call,\u201d Ben said.<\/p>

The constant presence of camera crews forces the couple to be always in the moment.<\/p>

\u201cIt makes us have a deeper connection,\u201d Erin said. \u201cWe wanted to be authentic. We really wanted to represent what the Midwest is all about and be a positive voice for agriculture.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWith that comes great responsibility,\u201d Ben added. Agriculture is number one industry in Nebraska, and it\u2019s how we feed the world, he continued. It\u2019s important to them they tell that story and educate viewers on topics like animal welfare and safety, beef quality assurance and fear-free animal handling.<\/p>

Ben grew up traveling to farms and ranches as a child with his father and loved the camaraderie he saw.<\/p>

\u201cI fell in love with the people and lifestyle,\u201d he said. That drove his decision to enter vet school, while Erin said she knew from a young age she would be a veterinarian.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sharing the moments they experience with their clients, along with their two sons, Charlie and Chase, on television was an unexpected turn but one for which they are grateful.<\/p>

\u00a0\u201cWe are a testament to just say yes and try,\u201d Ben said, adding that each time they\u2019ve been uncertain, they\u2019ve had the courage to say yes and it\u2019s led to nothing but good things.<\/p>

They are currently shooting season five of \u201cHeartland Docs, DVM.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cEverybody\u2019s worried the magic is going to quit,\u201d Ben said. \u201cWe\u2019ll keep doing the show as long as it makes us feel good at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>

They\u2019ve put further renovations of historic buildings on hold, and they sold their two South Dakota practices since starting the show, prioritizing what\u2019s most important to them.<\/p>

On a recent morning in Northwest Nebraska, with the mercury sitting at 2 degrees, that was working cattle for a valued client. In between sessions at the ranch, Ben, Erin and their crew stayed at Fort Robinson State Park, where all those historic buildings had Erin excited. The focus of this trip, however, had to remain on the veterinary work at hand.<\/p>

\u201cWe definitely know we\u2019re coming back,\u201d Ben said.<\/p>

\u201cHeartland Docs, DVM\u201d airs on National Geographic Wild and is streamed on Disney+. Watch an episode at https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Bl5npZ_-J24<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kerri Rempp Discover Northwest Nebraska Most Nebraska ranchers and their veterinarians probably don\u2019t pay much attention to the scenery and historical significance of their surroundings when there\u2019s work to be done, but a recent trip to Northwest Nebraska by veterinarians Ben and Erin Schroeder of \u201cHeartland Docs, DVM\u201d combined all of those elements. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[455,457,456,55],"class_list":["post-7906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-heartland-docs","tag-national-geographic","tag-nebraska","tag-northwest-nebraska"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/IMG_6797.jpg?fit=2332%2C898&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgf0HI-23w","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7906"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7914,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7906\/revisions\/7914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovernwnebraska.com\/staging\/5924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}