Dairy Sheep: The Industry's Salvation?

If the sheep industry is to survive, it must stop concentrating on wool and meat production and shift attention to dairy operations. So says Dr. George Haenlein, D. Sc. Ph. D. of the Department of Animal and Food Science at the University of Delaware.

"There is no money in wool and very little in meat," he says. "Not much lamb is sold for meat in the U.S. What there is available is, more often than not, from New Zealand. New Zealand is very aggressive in exporting to the US. If you find a bargain on lamb at the supermarket, it is coming from elsewhere, not the US."

That situation is not necessarily a bad thing, according to Haenlein, if sheep farmers develop alternatives. "People act like it is a retreat. They should talk about the potential growth that will happen by those who are innovative."

To him, that means literally milking the sheep for all they are worth. And they can be worth a lot. "Dairy sheep products are more accepted in Europe than in the US. In Greece, Italy, France, England, and Germany, dairy sheep have been productive for a very long time. It is an economically important industry in Greece and France particularly. Roquefort cheese is authentic only if it is made from sheep milk. Greek Feta cheese is also from sheep's milk."

A developing dairy sheep industry in the US faces several problems. One of them is the biological design of the sheep themselves. The sheep's udder is not nearly as comfortably organized or formed as a cow's or a goat's.

"In cows and goats, the teats are big and hang perpendicular to the udder. It's ideal for getting milk. Sheep have a small bag and teats don't hang but stick out and are thumb-sized. They evolved for the lamb's benefit, not the milkers'. You must use two fingers in order to milk." He holds out a hand and demonstrates the dainty squeeze of the thumb and first finger. "How do I develop muscles to milk like that?"

Some breeders are starting to genetically select against that udder, and more sheep are available that have an udder with a perpendicular position of the teat. A lot of progress has been made in this sort of genetic breeding in other countries, notably Australia and New Zealand, but health and import regulations in this country make it difficult for farmers to bring the sheep here. One way to avoid the quarantine regulations is to export embryos from Europe to Australia and New Zealand, which are free of Blue Tongue Scrapie and other viruses and import the lambs and sheep from those disease-free countries. While it works, it is a convoluted and expensive process.

Another option is to develop breeds which seem to have better milk-producing qualities. He points to the Catahdin and Barbados sheep as two likely breeds. They are found in the Caribbean and Africa. "They are not productive in wool, meat, or offspring. They have milk, but just for the lamb." There are a few flocks already in the US.

Another advantage of those breeds is that they have hair, not wool. This sheds like any other hair, eliminating the need for shearing, while providing a potential source of woven materials.

Haenlein takes issue with the agricultural mindset that considers sheep as some kind of small cow. He says that researchers have concentrated on cows, then extrapolated their findings and conclusions onto sheep and goats. "We have to convince the industry, veterinarians, technical people, and researchers that sheep are unique and separate entities."

One area where he sees particular difference between cows and sheep is feeding. "We need to consider the value of different rations and forages. What are the best farm practices to get the best feeding values for foraging and supplements for sheep? It is not productive or possible to operate a dairy sheep operation in a feed-lot style."

His experience with dairy sheep goes back to his boyhood. Growing up near Heidelberg, Germany during World War II, he saw people using green areas around the city for gardening, planting, and raising small animals. "People were starving, and anything that would sustain them, they grew. A lot of milk sheep were kept there, mostly East Friesian. They don't mind being tethered."

Those early personal observations combined with his professional training and experience have led him to develop some theories about sheep's nutritional needs. "Sheep like to nibble and browse. We think it is funny, but it is a requirement. They like to eat trees and bark. Tannin is generally not considered a nutritional need, but sheep seem to require it. It is not provided in the feed. But acorns have tannin, and we do not feed it to sheep, but they seek out acorns. Operations that still include a small area of grazing, that still provide the ability to browse are productive operations."

That's particularly important when cheese-making is the object of the dairy operation. "You want the influence of the pasture. A bland diet does not produce the extra flavor of the mountain pasture. Sheep will eat azaleas, rhododendron, rosemary, and herbs. Those volatile substances and oils enter the milk and cheese and give the extra aroma and flavor."

While letting sheep graze and browse brings down the cost of feeding, sheep are more labor intensive - and therefore, more expensive - in other areas. The amount of milk produced by dairy sheep is far less than cows. A cow gives 70 pounds of milk a day and can be milked in under ten minutes. A sheep, on the other hand, gives only 7 or 8 pounds of milk a day, meaning it takes 10 sheep to produce the same amount of milk, and requires much more time, equipment, and manpower.

Haenlein thinks there are advantages that equalize the differences. "Sheep are much easier to handle than cows. The concentrated housing needed for dairy cows is not needed for sheep. Their environment is much cleaner. Disease problems are less because their manure is dry. E Coli is not a problem. There is much less mastitis, because this is not a muddy environment and the sheep do not infect themselves."

Still, he admits that until there is a very well-paid market farmers will not develop profitable construction, feeding, and labor operations. Strong marketing of dairy sheep products is starting to create that consumer base. He credits the increasing sophistication of the health-conscious shopper for that.

"The only growth industry in agriculture is natural and organic foods. Nutritionally and health-wise, people are beginning to realize the benefits of dairy sheep products. Sheep milk has the small and medium chain fatty acids, which are the energy fatty acids that our bodies need. We need to identify the uniqueness of sheep products. We must stress and capitalize on that."

Most research still concentrates on genetics and nutrition. While that will always be important, he thinks more efforts should be made to study the human food value of sheep dairy products. "The justification for using sheep dairy products is the gourmet and medicinal reasons. Those could be major ones in the future, and we need to learn all we can about them."

As Americans get used to the idea of dairy products from sheep, some progress is being made, particularly in New England. "In Vermont and Massachusetts, several sheep farmers have been successful in getting the attention of chefs at good hotels to put sheep cheese on their menus." The right chef at the right restaurant with the right recipe could make sheep cheese as trendy as sushi or designer hot peppers.

Developing a label of origin, as the European countries have done with some of their cheeses, would go a long way towards creating a larger, legitimate market. "That would stress and capitalize on the uniqueness of the sheep cheese and milk products." Vermont, a major cow dairy state, already has a well-developed ID and label of origin process which can be copied elsewhere and modified to suit the dairy sheep operations.

It will not be easy for the sheep industry to move away from the traditional wool and mutton operations, either mentally or physically. But goat farmers made the transition beginning about 15 years ago, and their industry is surviving and developing. Haenlein sees the same opportunities for sheep farmers.

"Sheep people better wake up and kiss the meat business goodbye for a while and make money where money can be made right now. Those who begin to understand and promote the uniqueness of sheep milk will do well."
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