The Soehnlen Family

Meet the Soehnlens:

The Soehnlen Veterinary Clinic in Navarre, Ohio may look like any other veterinary clinic from the outside, but the roots of this clinic run deep. Over 45 years ago, Dr. David Soehnlen started the clinic after graduating from The Ohio State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine Today, the clinic is a family affair. David’s wife, Lori, has helped run the clinic for the past 30 years, and now their son, Dr. Stanley Soehnlen, has come home to join the family business.  

Stan and his wife, Dr. Dana Soehnlen, both became veterinarians after graduating from Lincoln Memorial University’s veterinary school in 2019. Stan and Dana met in 4-H and have been together ever since. Dana also works at the clinic with the rest of the family and David said, “that’s been the biggest help of all. Now it just seems like we can never keep up, which is flattering, but also exhausting.”  

The family began their herd 15 years ago with five red and white Shorthorn heifers. Lori explains that as their children gained more interest in 4-H and showing cattle, they started moving towards crossbred cattle, and a few Herefords. Now with Stan heading up their cattle operation, their primary focus has become producing cattle they can sell to 4-H kids. 

From a veterinary perspective, Stan foresees the use of veterinary feed directive being a future change in the industry. He states “It seems like more and more people are concerned with what they’re eating. Lawmakers are paying more attention to it too... in the next few years we’ll see more strict regulations on veterinary medicine.” He predicts changes in withholding times, antibiotic resistance, and preventative medicine, all practices that beef farmers in the U.S.  routinely utilize to produce the world’s safest beef supply.  are topics in which.  

For the future, David says, “They [his children] can take it and fly with it.” Stan’s career goal is to eventually start an embryo company and have his own in vitro fertilization (IVF) lab in northeast Ohio. For now, he is just trying to breed cows that you like to look at. He says, “we enjoy it and every year we try to breed a little better.”