Claire Mikolayunas: the small ruminant business in Wisconsin
Claire Mikolayunas, Extension Small Ruminant Specialist
Department of Animal Science
UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
608.890.3802.
mikolayunas@wisc.edu
The business of small ruminants in Wisconsin
3:03 – Total Time
0:19 – Overview of sheep and goats
0:49 – Dairy goats in Wisconsin
1:05 – Sheep in Wisconsin
1:43 – The business of small ruminants
2:15 – Land required for sheep
2:30 – Past personal experience with sheep
2:52 – Lead out
Transcript
Sevie Kenyon: Start out by giving us a little thumbnail sketch of small ruminants, here in the state of Wisconsin.
Claire M: Well, small ruminants include sheep and goats and they are livestock that have rumens – so similar to cows – but we classify sheep and goats as small ruminants. Within the state we have a lot of sheep; meat sheep and diary and wool producing sheep. We have about 90,000 sheep and we have the highest number of dairy goats of any state. We have about 40,000 dairy goats and about 20,000 meat goats in Wisconsin.
Sevie Kenyon: Claire, lets take off with the dairy goat thing first. Can you describe that business to us, a little bit?
Claire M: There are about 200 dairy goat producers in our state and the are shipping fluid milk to a number of processors throughout the state that are making goat-milk cheeses and also mixed-milk cheeses.
Sevie Kenyon: And on the other side of that equation, what about the goat meat business? Can you describe that to us?
Claire M: Well, the approximate 20,000 meat goats that we have are being sold as carcasses to markets in Illinois and Chicago and Milwaukee and also in the Twin Cities.
Sevie Kenyon: Claire lets shift over to the sheep. Tell us a little bit about the sheep business here in the state.
Claire M: Wisconsin has a very diverse group of sheep producers in the state. Over half of the flocks are under 25 sheep. So, many of those producers are showing lambs at 4-H or with shows. We also have a number of commercial sheep operations that maybe have two to 300 ewes and the majority of their production is for lamb. Right now there are record lamb prices that haven’t been seen in this country ever. That provides great potential for sheep producers in our state.
Sevie Kenyon: Ok Claire, lets talk about that potential. What are the opportunities in the sheep business?
Claire M: Well, producers that are able to produce lamb at a low cost, considering the rising price of grain, if you’re able to produce lamb, say, on pasture or using some pasture to produce that lamb, there is the potential for high return on those lambs.
Sevie Kenyon: Claire, can you perhaps tell us what it takes to get into the business or be in the business of sheep?
Claire M: To raise sheep it requires minimal housing. Sheep can survive in a three-sided building through the majority of our winters because the majority of breeds do have wool to protect them. However, there are some hair breeds of sheep that would need cover all winter. So, it would require some housing for those sheep through the winter and some housing during the time when they’re lambing. We need to protect those lambs from the cold, if you’re going to be lambing during the colder season. It also requires a high quality feed supply; especially during lambing and then as the ewes are nursing lambs. Hopefully with the vast amount of pastures we have available in Wisconsin, producers would be able to put up some permanent fencing and graze sheep maybe rotationally in order to provide them high quality feed throughout the summer.
Sevie Kenyon: What kind of land requirement are there for grazing ewe and lamb?
Claire M: The land requirement would really depend on the quality of the forage you can grow. One general rule of thumb is about five sheep to an acre of moderate pasture. There’s a high potential for producers in Wisconsin to run a good number of sheep throughout the grazing season.
Sevie Kenyon: And Claire, I understand there is a growth or has been some growth in milking sheep. Could you talk to us a little bit about that business?
Claire M: Yes, there has been growth in the dairy sheep industry in Wisconsin. There are approximately 15 farms milking sheep and that is a minority within the sheep industry in the state. The milk that is being produced in Wisconsin is being processed into fine cheeses in Wisconsin and also in other states. Sheep milk can be frozen and shipped to other states. There are quite a few sheep being milked in Wisconsin and we lead the nation in sheep milk dairies.
Sevie Kenyon: Claire, if someone is interested in raising small ruminants, what are some of the general things they should consider?
Claire M: Well, I think there is a great potential for raising small ruminants in Wisconsin, especially with lots of vacant dairy facilities available. Within those facilities it’s very easy to modify them for sheep and goats – building some feeders and providing water to those animals. So, certainly you would need housing and a good supply of clean water and feed throughout the season and sheep and goats can go out on the pasture for some of the grazing season, so there are minimal land requirements and also minimal housing requirements for sheep and goats.
Sevie Kenyon: Claire, you mentioned the economic situation or the market situation, can you describe for us what’s causing the market situation for the small ruminant animals right now?
Claire M: The market for lamb and kid goats are very high at the moment and part of that is due to the reduction in imports. We typically import a lot of sheep and goat from New Zealand and Australia and Australia has had record draughts in the last few years, which has reduced their sheep numbers and in New Zealand there has been a switch from sheep production to the production of dairy cows, so their numbers are also down. So the inventory of sheep is very low in the United States and abroad, so that makes lamb prices very high. There’s an increasing demand for goat meat partially due to the diverse ethnic populations that are utilizing goat meat. In Wisconsin, we have access to many of those markets, which are both in rural areas and also in the metropolitan areas.
Sevie Kenyon: Claire, when you’re considering starting up in a business, do you have any recommendations for ‘em?
Claire M: I would recommend purchasing a few animals from a producer who has healthy livestock, maybe 10 or 15 animals, an run those animals through a kidding or a lambing season and really figure out if you enjoy working with them. I think that you’ll find that compared to some other species, sheep and goats are very personable and are very easy to work with. That would be my recommendation to start small and then build your flock or your herd from that point
Sevie Kenyon: Claire, you’re reasonably new to Wisconsin, can you perhaps tell us a little bit about yourself. What’s the most fun you’ve had with sheep in the past?
Claire M: I would have to say the most fun I’ve had with sheep has been working on some islands off of the coast of Maine with a flock of sheep that have been there over 100 years. It’s a very romantic environment to be hauling sheep back to the mainland on lobster boats and interacting with lobstermen and just handling sheep on a very remote island.