Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cious and wholesome. They are very proud when a customer tells them that their lamb is the
best lamb they have ever eaten.
They direct market their lamb meat to individual customers primarily found through word-of-
mouth. They are members of the Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers and the Sustainable
Farming Association of Minnesota. Through these organizations, they are able to list their
lamb. One novel way they were able to connect with customers was through donating a
lamb to an annual charity auction, which was a good source of new customers for them. Any
lambs not sold to customers are then sold at the live auction barn, but they get about half the
price there as they do through direct marketing.
They spend about 30 to 60 minutes a day caring for their lambs. During lambing season, the
time commitment greatly increases. Baling hay and cleaning pens are two tasks that require
sizable amounts of time. They have their sheep on a deworming schedule because parasit-
ism is a big concern. One difficult aspect of sheep farming is, it is hard to find a shearer to
shear a small flock. They ended up doing the task themselves this year and may have to
continue to do so in the future.
Sheep for Milk
Sheep milk is not very popular in the United States. However, sheep milk, usually from the
milk breeds listed above, is used to make cheese and yogurt. Feta, Roquefort, and ricotta
cheeses all are made from sheep's milk. Sheep produce less milk than cows, but sheep's milk
is richer in fat, solids, and minerals. This makes it perfect for making cheese. Sheep's milk
has even more lactose than cow milk, so it is not a good alternative for lactose-intolerant
people. If you are interested in raising sheep for their milk, choose a breed such as the Awassi
or the Lacaune, or an East Friesian crossbred.
As with goat's milk, you can do anything you like with sheep's milk for your own personal
use. You can drink it straight from the sheep, make cheese or yogurt with it, or use it for other
purposes.
Selling milk
If you intend to sell sheep's milk, you will need to check the laws in your state regarding raw
milk versus pasteurized milk. You can check them on the Real Milk site:
www.realmilk.com/
milk-laws-1.html
.
Laws regarding other dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt, are separ-
