University of Wisconsin - Extension

The annual Great Lakes Dairy Sheep symposium, Nov. 4-6 in Hudson, will offer practical instruction on sheep dairy farming, lectures by university and industry scientists and progressive producers and sheep milk processors, as well as tours of sheep dairy farms and a farmstead sheep milk processing plant.

According to symposium organizers, the dairy sheep industry is growing in North America. In the 2004 annual specialty cheese competition of the American Cheese Society, a 100-percent sheep milk cheese took top honors. "Gran Canaria," produced by master cheesemaker, Sid Cook of LaValle, Wis., topped 725 other cow, goat, and sheep milk entries from throughout the U.S. The symposium has been an important event for potential producers and processors seeking a better understanding of the industry and for current producers and processors looking for new ideas to improve their operations.

Among the speakers are:

-- Pierre Billon, a sheep milking systems scientist with the National Agricultural Research Institute of France, who will speak about practical milking systems for small and medium size sheep dairies.

-- Maristela Rovai, a lactational physiologist at the University of Munich, Germany, who will discuss the desired udder shape for optimum milk yield and milking time.

Other topics include milk testing, calculating lactation yields, business management, comparison of the East Friesian and Lacaune dairy sheep breeds, effects of feeds on milk flavor, prevention of residues in milk, relationship between milk composition and cheese yield, cultures for specialty cheeses, and marketing sheep milk and cheeses.

Following the symposium, on Nov. 7, participants may attend open houses hosted by Dave and Mary Falk, LoveTree Farm, Grantsburg. and the Spooner Agricultural Research Station, Spooner. Mary Falk produces some of the finest sheep milk cheeses in North America, and her cheeses have won many awards. The Spooner Station, operated by the University of Wisconsin, has the only dairy sheep research program in North America.

The 10th GLDSS is sponsored by the Dairy Sheep Association of North America and organized by the Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Cooperative and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Extension, with financial support from the Babcock Institute of International Dairy Research and Development, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A symposium brochure, sponsor information and on-line registration can be found at http://www.cals.wisc.edu/cos/Current%20Programs.html or from Yves Berger, Symposium Chair, at ymberger@facstaff.wisc.edu (phone: 715-635-3735). Early registration deadline is October 15, 2004.