Rawns are one of two Minnesota families involved in sheep dairying DAVID RAWN OF Lyle, Minn., has experience milking sheep. David and his wife Sheryl are members of the South Central Sheep Dairy Association. In 1988 they milked 28 ewes. Agri News Photo By Amy Jo Brandel LYLE, Minn. -- David and Sheryl Rawn are in an elite class of dairy farmers.

The Rawns are one of the two Minnesota farm families involved in sheep dairying. The other family is from Campbell in the state's northern region.

After several years research and reading, last year marked the couple's first attempt at milking ewes. Although the venture proved unprofitable, the Rawns strongly believe sheep milking has promise in the United States.

There is a lot of potential in sheep dairying, David said.

Gourmet cheeses made from sheep's milk are presently being imported into the United States. The milk is also used in making a high quality yogurt.

The Rawns are members of the South Central Sheep Dairy Association. The association plans on developing a central dairy and marketing the milk. Once the dairy is established, the Rawns and 11 other sheep producers will be bringing their ewes to the dairy for the three- to four-month milking season.

In 1988, the Rawns milked 28 ewes. Average daily production was three pounds per ewe. The top milking ewe produced five pounds daily.

The best milkers, the Rawns said, were their mixed breed ewes. Domestic U.S. sheep breeds milk between 90 to 120 days. European milking breeds milk substantially longer and have higher slightly hihger outputs. A ban on importing European milking breeds of sheep into the United States, however, makes it nearly impossible for U.S. farmers to introduce milking strains into their flocks.

The Rawns received 50 cents a pound for their milk. According to University of Minnesota materials compiled at the school's sheep dairy research farm, that price should have been profitable. But the Rawns quickly disagree and said that the university figures did not apply to a real on-farm situation. They estimate a price near $1 would be needed to generate a positive cash flow.

The price received for the milk was based on a 6 percent butterfat content, although solids and proteins are the important factors in the cheese-making process, David said. The Rawn's butterfat test was below 6 percent, but they had very clean milk with extremely low bacteria and somatic cell counts and high protein and solids percentages.

The Rawns found that milking the ewes 30 days after lambing to the be most productive and profitable. They had tried removing the lambs from the ewes 24 hours after birth but milk replacer costs outweighed the price they received for the ewes' milk.

After filtering and cooling the milk, it was packaged in special plastic bags and boxed. The Rawns then took their fresh milk 29 miles to Stacyville, Iowa, where it was frozen and stored. Sheep milk has the ability to be frozen and stored for long periods without losing characteristics needed for cheese making.

When a larger milk volume accumulated, the Rawns trucked the frozen milk to Hinckley, Minn., where a small, family-owned business manufactures fresh and aged sheep milk cheese.

The Rawns revamped a barn into a milking parlor and another building into a milkroom housing a small bulk tank. For milking, the ewes moved up a shoot and into a raised platform with stanchions. Training the ewes to enter the stanchions, Sheryl said, proved time consuming and sometimes frustrating. The Rawns milking facility meets state grade B dairy standards.

The Rawns used a Surge milking bucket outfitted with imported French teat cups. Unlike dairy cows, the two-uddered sheep are milked from behind.p LYLE, Minn. -- David and Sheryl Rawn are in an elite class of dairy farmers.

The Rawns are one of the two Minnesota farm families involved in sheep dairying. The other family is from Campbell in the state's northern region.

After several years research and reading, last year marked the couple's first attempt at milking ewes. Although the venture proved unprofitable, the Rawns strongly believe sheep milking has promise in the United States.

There is a lot of potential in sheep dairying, David said.

Gourmet cheeses made from sheep's milk are presently being imported into the United States. The milk is also used in making a high quality yogurt.

The Rawns are members of the South Central Sheep Dairy Association. The association plans on developing a central dairy and marketing the milk. Once the dairy is established, the Rawns and 11 other sheep producers will be bringing their ewes to the dairy for the three- to four-month milking season.

In 1988, the Rawns milked 28 ewes. Average daily production was three pounds per ewe. The top milking ewe produced five pounds daily.

The best milkers, the Rawns said, were their mixed breed ewes. Domestic U.S. sheep breeds milk between 90 to 120 days. European milking breeds milk substantially longer and have higher slightly hihger outputs. A ban on importing European milking breeds of sheep into the United States, however, makes it nearly impossible for U.S. farmers to introduce milking strains into their flocks.

The Rawns received 50 cents a pound for their milk. According to University of Minnesota materials compiled at the school's sheep dairy research farm, that price should have been profitable. But the Rawns quickly disagree and said that the university figures did not apply to a real on-farm situation. They estimate a price near $1 would be needed to generate a positive cash flow.

The price received for the milk was based on a 6 percent butterfat content, although solids and proteins are the important factors in the cheese-making process, David said. The Rawn's butterfat test was below 6 percent, but they had very clean milk with extremely low bacteria and somatic cell counts and high protein and solids percentages.

The Rawns found that milking the ewes 30 days after lambing to the be most productive and profitable. They had tried removing the lambs from the ewes 24 hours after birth but milk replacer costs outweighed the price they received for the ewes' milk.

After filtering and cooling the milk, it was packaged in special plastic bags and boxed. The Rawns then took their fresh milk 29 miles to Stacyville, Iowa, where it was frozen and stored. Sheep milk has the ability to be frozen and stored for long periods without losing characteristics needed for cheese making.

When a larger milk volume accumulated, the Rawns trucked the frozen milk to Hinckley, Minn., where a small, family-owned business manufactures fresh and aged sheep milk cheese.

The Rawns revamped a barn into a milking parlor and another building into a milkroom housing a small bulk tank. For milking, the ewes moved up a shoot and into a raised platform with stanchions. Training the ewes to enter the stanchions, Sheryl said, proved time consuming and sometimes frustrating. The Rawns milking facility meets state grade B dairy standards.

The Rawns used a Surge milking bucket outfitted with imported French teat cups. Unlike dairy cows, the two-uddered sheep are milked from behind.