Great Lakes Dairy Sheep Symposium - the Department of Animal ...

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Supporting: Sponsors Cornell University Sheep Program, Ithaca, New York, USA; http://www.sheep.cornell.edu/sheep/ Glengarry Cheesemaking & Dairy Supply, Alexandria, Ontario, Canada; http://www.glengarrycheesemaking.on.ca/ Hoegger Supply Company, Inc., Fayetteville, Georgia, USA; http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com/ Land O’Lakes, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA; http://www.landolakesinc.com/ Natural Resources Conservation Service, Vermont Office, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Colchester, Vermont, USA; http://www.vt.nrcs.usda.gov/ The Shepherd Magazine, New Washington, Ohio; Cardington, Ohio; USA; shepmag@bright.net University of Vermont, Department of Animal Science, Burlington, Vermont, USA; http://asci.uvm.edu/ Wooldrift Farm, Chris Buschbeck and Axel Meister, Markdale, Ontario, Canada; wooldrift@bmts.com x
“YOU WANT TO MILK WHAT?” IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS TO PONDER BEFORE STARTING A SHEEP DAIRY Introduction Michael Ghia Ewetopia Farm Saxtons River, Vermont, USA As my wife and I prepared to start our sheep dairy in 1997, I took a course from the Extension Service called the Vermont-New Hampshire Agribusiness Management Course. One of the guest speakers was a loan officer from the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) who had also worked in the same capacity for the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). After the class, I spoke with him about what we wanted to do, and asked him for advice about approaching VEDA or FSA about a loan to get started. At that time, the Major Farm was the only established sheep dairy in Vermont, and the loan officer told me not to be surprised if the FSA officer asked me, “You want to milk what?!” and then chuckled into the phone. “If its not black and white, weighs 1200 lbs. and gives 20,000 lbs. of milk, they won’t know what to do with you”, he added. Sheep dairying is more widely known these days. Nonetheless, the point that he was trying to make still holds true. If you are going to get into sheep dairying, you need to know your business better than the loan officers and the other technical service providers. Even (or perhaps especially) if you are setting up a sheep dairy with your own money, it is important to understand what you are getting yourself into before taking the plunge. It has been my experience in conducting workshops, and doing consulting over the years, that there are a great many myths and unmet expectations around sheep dairying and around value-added products. There is an expectation that sheep dairying offers a greater chance at success and profitability than other forms of dairying (cow, goat, etc.) or other types of farming. Further, there is an expectation that value-added products are both necessary for and a guarantee of farm profitability. The realities, of course, are much different. Sheep dairying is like any other form of farming, and the keys to success lie in hard work, long days, thorough research, careful financial planning, thorough management, good record keeping, financial monitoring, and some luck. Additionally, anyone getting into sheep dairying or doing value-added products needs to know from experience that they are suited to work and the lifestyle that will be required of them. Over the course of the conference, other presenters will get into greater detail on specific management and financial considerations than I can offer during this talk. Also, everyone comes to the table here with many different backgrounds and financial resources. So, instead of providing too many specifics here, my intention is present to you some general principals and some questions that, in my opinion, anyone getting into sheep dairying should consider before committing themselves to this venture. Principle One: There is no absolute economic advantage to milking sheep over milking goats or cows, etc. 1
Page 1 and 2: Proceedings of the 11 th Annual GRE
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Program of Events
Page 5 and 6: Program of Events Thursday, Novembe
Page 7 and 8: Speakers at the symposium site in B
Page 9: Gold: Sponsors Babcock Institute fo
Page 13 and 14: already have their milking faciliti
Page 15 and 16: efficient or just selling milk (or
Page 17 and 18: production doubles. However, there
Page 19 and 20: Total production (pounds) Percentag
Page 21 and 22: Milk production (pounds) Average mi
Page 23 and 24: Percentage of ewes in each system 1
Page 25 and 26: 5. Ice Cream and Butter: • raw mi
Page 27 and 28: 3. Fresh Cheeses made from pasteuri
Page 29 and 30: The Vermont Cheese Council (www.vtc
Page 31 and 32: 1 x Brine Tank (10’ long x 3 ft.
Page 33 and 34: LAMB REARING STRATEGIES: FARMER PAN
Page 35 and 36: BONNIEVIEW FARM’S LAMB REARING ST
Page 37 and 38: REARING LAMBS AT 3-CORNER FIELD FAR
Page 39 and 40: PROFITABILITY OF SMALL RUMINANT FAR
Page 41 and 42: Table I. General Farm Description L
Page 43 and 44: Table 4. Business Balance Sheet Ass
Page 45 and 46: Table 5. Income Statement Income Av
Page 47 and 48: Lifestyle is a definite reason for
Page 49 and 50: Grossman et al., 1999). Animals wit
Page 51 and 52: Physiological Factors Affecting Lac
Page 53 and 54: Recently, it has been hypothesized
Page 55 and 56: (co)variate in the genetic model us
Page 57 and 58: show that milk production increases
Page 59 and 60: Figure 6 - Lactation curves of ewes
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milk yield (g/d) 3000 2500 2000 150
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a genetic potential to produce more
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when compared with the control grou
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probability (%) 70 60 50 40 30 20 1
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considered “healthy” if every S
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Finally, udder health has to be con
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De Maria Ghionna C., Dell’Aquila.
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Manalu, W., Sumaryadi, M.Y., Sudjat
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Rupp R., Boichard D., Barbat A., As
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Introduction MILK FAT SYNTHESIS AND
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The variety of fatty acids allows t
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Germany); we have shown previously
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Manipulating Milk Fatty Acid Compos
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increase in rumen output of vacceni
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Luna et al., 2005; Nudda et al., 20
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Cabiddu, A., M. Decandia, M. Addis,
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MANAGING YOUR OWN RETAIL SHOP: MARK
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The Reality our feta demonstrates t
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Meat and meat dishes: 1. Legs: whol
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5. We have daily visits from chefs
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HOW TO GRAZE DAIRY SHEEP AND SUPPLE
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significantly increase milk product
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All parameters are significantly di
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Table 6 - Dry matter intake and mil
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animals can reduce intake, as they
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Milk fat and protein concentrations
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fat concentration can be used as a
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(1998), working with adult Sarda ew
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equirements. The relationship found
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that there have not been enough stu
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Grazing methods Grazing methods are
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How should the number of paddocks b
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Table 16 - Description of four past
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a) concentrates supplied during mil
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References Arnold G.W., and Dudzins
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supplemented with corn grain. Optio
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succeeding add on pastures smaller
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diverse forage have much to do with
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dairy farming. In fact, Vermont agr
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thermized (holding at a temperature
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speaking, the risks associated with
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FARMER PANEL ON LABOR HOW TO ATTRAC
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• Animal Health Products • Spec
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Cultivating Healthy Communities UVM
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139
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Hudson Valley Camemberts Pure Sheep
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Premier Dairy Service, LLC Argyle,
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www.vermontagriculture.com 145
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