From “The country Today” newspaper, March 21, 2007

Sheep dairy producers passionate about industry

Story and photos by Heidi Clausen

BRUCE
— The bright, airy lamb barn on Larry and Emily Meisegeiers' Rusk County farm is a popular spot this time of year.                                                      At the sound of a visitor, dozens of little heads perk up, turn toward the door and let out a loud chorus of bleats.
It's near the end of lambing season on the Meisegeiers' almost 300-ewe sheep dairy. One particularly hectic weekend last month, 60 ewes on the farm gave birth to a total 133 lambs. If anyone can handle it, it's the Meisegeiers, who are one of Wisconsin's most seasoned and enthusiastic sheep dairy producers. But even they're still learning. The past eight years have been an ongoing experiment in breeding, nutrition and economics.
'By the time we're old and gray and retired, we should have it all figured out,' said Mr. Meisegeier, a fourth-generation dairy farmer.
If anyone is a cheerleader for the state's sheep dairy industry, it's Mr. Meisegeier, who's in his second year as president of the Dairy Sheep Association of North America.
Despite the ups and downs in sheep dairying, he said, he's 'still really excited about it. 'In fact, the Meisegeiers gave their son, Edward, and daughter-in-law, Megan, sheep as a wedding present to start their own sheep dairy near Ladysmith.
Larry Meisegeier is field representative for the Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Cooperative, visiting each member's farm at least once a month during production season.
The farmer-run WSDC includes about 15 farms and is the single largest source of sheep milk in the United States. Milk is crafted into artisan cheeses and sold into elite markets on the East and West coasts.
The Meisegeiers are one of a handful of WSDC members considering year-round production to provide a more consistent supply to customers. The co-op essentially is shut down from early-October to mid-January.
To make year-round production work on his farm, Mr. Meisegeier said one group of ewes would lamb in December and another in June.
The challenge is that ewes typically don't start cycling until August, he said, and they would need to be bred in July for December lambing.

He also hopes to eventually build a new barn. 'I would like to set up a fairly large, highly-efficient operation here to produce sheep's milk,' he said. 'Eventually, it will have to get to that. Eventually, the (milk) price will have to come down.

More producers needed

Unable to meet a growing demand, the WSDC has begun recruiting more producers in a targeted area of western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota.
A lot of cheese plants are interested in sheep milk, but are waiting to see how it all shakes out, Mr. Meisegeier said.
'We need more production; there's no doubt about it,' he said. 'The world isn't beating our door down to get into the sheep dairy business. I don't really understand completely why. … It's great for some people; it's obviously not for everybody.'
Mr. Meisegeier cautions would-be producers that it's not as easy as it might look and they should spend a couple years just learning how to care for sheep before jumping into milking.
'Every single person that has ever gotten into this has never been able to meet their goal,' he said. 'It always takes another year to get started milking.'
Early on, the sheep dairy industry was plagued by low production and marketplace inconsistencies.
'We didn't know if we were going to get that milk marketed or not,' he said. 'This year, we had to turn away some (customers).'
That's been good for producers, and Mr. Meisegeier said payment levels are higher every year. The co-op sells milk for $73 a hundredweight and pays members about $56.
The WSDC continues to tweak its program. This year, the co-op initiated a year-end bonus for quality. Producers also will be rewarded if they estimate within 10 percent how much milk they will have to market annually.
Producers aren't paid for components, and there's no demand for organic sheep milk products, but Mr. Meisegeier expects those could change.
In an effort to develop a more accurate pricing system, the WSDC has started to track members' production costs.
'The biggest thing is how do you know what to charge?' he said. '(People on the East Coast) say we should be getting $100 a hundredweight.'
More also is being learned about the unique needs of sheep milk. For example, because of the high fat content, milking equipment must be cleaned more thoroughly. Researchers at UW-Madison are studying how best to freeze sheep milk for highest quality.

Sheep saved the farm

The Meisegeiers have been milking sheep on their River Ridge Stock Farm since the late 1990s. They also milk a few goats and raise about 160 chickens a year.
They see sheep dairying as a way to keep the farm, which has been in Mrs. Meisegeier's family since her great-grandfather moved there in 1912.
The couple took over the 200-acre operation in 1993, with a mixed flock.
Before getting into sheep dairying themselves, the Meisegeiers worked two years with the milking flock at the Spooner Agricultural Research Station.
Mr. Meisegeier said he was attracted to sheep dairying because it was something different. 'It was a chance to be a pioneer,' he said. 'It has gotten me into more than I bargained for. 'In 1999, they built a lean-to on the old barn that houses a double-12 pit milking parlor, 600-gallon milk tank and commercial freezer.
Ewes are milked twice daily. Two workers can milk 100 sheep in an hour.
A milk hauler from the Trego area picks up milk from area farms for delivery to cheese plants. This time of year, milk from the Meisegeier farm is picked up twice a week.
WSDC members must have a commercial freezer so milk gets to minus 10 degrees within 24 hours.
'It's mid-June before we have to freeze any milk here,' Mr. Meisegeier said.
To the Meisegeiers, it's not so important how many ewes they milk, but how much milk they get per ewe. Efficiency is key to success in sheep dairying, Mr. Meisegeier said.
'I think we need to increase the production of the sheep to be competitive. To me, it's a no-brainer,' he said.
Their flock averaged 425 pounds of milk per ewe last year, but he said they need at least 600 pounds to be most profitable. The state average is about 370 pounds. '200,000 pounds a season would be good financially,' he said.
Some of Mr. Meisegeier's highest producers give 9 pounds of milk a day, but that increases every year.
Breed and nutrition are the biggest parts of the equation, and he continues to make improvements.
East Friesians are some of the best milkers, but they are vulnerable to health issues, Mr. Meisegeier said. He has crossed breeds in search of a 'happy medium' between animal health and productivity.
Most of their flock is a mix of East Friesian, Dorset and the French Lacaune breed. They also have some Suffolks and hair breeds. The farm sells breeding stock nationwide.
Mr. Meisegeier said he hopes to bring in additional Lacaune ram lines from France this fall. Shepherds in France's Roquefort region may not be realizing the full potential of the breed they developed, he said. 'I'm optimistic we'll get better results with them here,' he said.
Milk output seems to correlate to the number of lambs a ewe has, he said. Multiple births are more likely in his flock, which carries the Booroola gene.
On the nutrition side of the equation, Mr. Meisegeier purchases much of his feed. Ewes get 3 pounds of grain a day in the parlor and dairy-quality alfalfa he buys from Western growers.
'That's where you get your production,' he said.
High corn costs have forced him to replace some corn in the ration with hominy and distillers' grains.

Lambs weaned early

The Meisegeiers raise lambs in a graduating system. Lambs are moved through a series of six different pens, depending on age and size.Within 24 to 36 hours of birth, they're removed from ewes and put in a training pen with a nipple system. By 25 to 30 days of age, they're weaned off milk and fed grain and alfalfa hay.
Bloat and 'overeating' disease are concerns beyond about 30 days, he said. 'We have to keep an eye on lambs that start to grow really fast. 'Wethers are sold at 70 to 80 pounds into the ethnic meats market.
Mr. Meisegeier said he plans to begin increasing his goat herd again in hopes there will be a regional market for goats' milk.
'We will be set to jump right in again with both sheep and goats,' he said.