The Dairy Sheep
Join us at our next symposium!
DSANA’s 2026
Dairy Sheep Symposium
November 12 - 14, 2026
Kitchener-Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada
This year’s theme:
”Mastitis And Milk Quality Management”
Plus Presentations on Nutrition, Udder Conformation, Breeding, genetics, and More
The DSANA Dairy Sheep Symposium is for commercial dairy sheep producers, sheep milk processors, veterinarians, small ruminant nutritionists, homesteaders, academic researchers, and anyone else interested in how to raise healthy, productive dairy sheep and improve the quality of the milk they produce.
Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario - the location for DSANA’s 2026 Dairy Sheep Symposium
Welcome to DSANA!
The Dairy Sheep Association of North America (DSANA) is a membership-based organization of dairy sheep producers, sheep’s milk processors, cheesemakers, veterinarians, nutritionists, academic researchers, and educators. We have members from around the world, not just North America! Our goal is to improve the dairy sheep industry, support our member producers and processors, and promote sheep’s milk products. DSANA’s all-volunteer Board of Directors, and our committees, work throughout the year to offer members the latest practical tools and expert information that can improve their operations.
How can you become involved? Join DSANA today!
Honoring Tom Clark
1941-2026
Photo courtesy of the Clark family, via The New York Times
We lost a beloved and longtime member of the dairy sheep community on July 4th. For 15 years, Tom Clark and his wife, Nancy, ran Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, a 500-acre sheep dairy in the Hudson Valley of New York. When Tom and Nancy began producing award-winning cheeses and yogurt from their 1,000+ ewes in 1993, the American public was just discovering the superb qualities of fresh sheep milk products — making Tom one of the pioneers of sheep dairying in the U.S. You can still find Old Chatham products in stores, the company having been sold by Tom and Nancy in 2014.
Behind the scenes, Tom was a devoted longtime member of DSANA, which he and Nancy helped found in 2002. After retiring from sheep dairying, he worked diligently as a DSANA Board member to secure the importation of high quality Lacaune-breed semen from France into the U.S.; this allowed American dairy sheep producers to breed Lacaune sheep on their farms through artificial insemination. He also pushed the Board to join GenOvis and make EBV’s available to U.S. producers. In 2019, DSANA presented Tom with the group’s Distinguished Service Award at the annual DSANA Dairy Sheep Symposium. Tom, who was a member of the Board through 2024, will be deeply missed, but above all, remembered for his genuine devotion to sheep dairying.
Have dairy sheep questions?
Want to learn more about sheep’s milk?
Join DSANA today and get access to our Flock Management Forum. It’s a listserve for anyone milking sheep. Just post a question on a particular topic and an email will go out to all DSANA members. You’ll benefit from the replies sent to you by producers from all over North America — and some from other continents!
Thanks to our
2025 sponsors!
Our sponsors make it possible for us to support dairy sheep producers.
Please support them, to thank them for supporting us:
DSANA is an all-volunteer
organization, led by a Board of
dairy Sheep producers…
Here’s what we’ve been up to lately:
Flock Management Forum
This is DSANA’s message board for anyone with a DSANA membership. Ask questions of fellow producers & processors, or share your knowledge with others. Topics include mastitis, parasite control, sheep nutrition, and marketing. Visit the forum today (or sign up for membership to gain access) and learn from others in the North American sheep dairy industry.
Sheep dairy directory
DSANA manages the popular Sheep Dairy Directory, which helps the public find local sheep dairies near them, and helps producers and processors locate breeding stock, equipment, and more. If you’re a DSANA member, you automatically get a free listing in this directory. Consider joining DSANA today to be featured in the directory!
Genetic Evaluation Program
The DSANA Genetic Evaluation Program (GEP) provides dairy sheep producers with a standardized means for evaluating and selecting replacement animals within flocks, and gives those who purchase and sell replacement ewes and rams a reliable source of information on the estimated genetic impact of those replacements within their flocks.
The Dairy Sheep Association of North America is run entirely by volunteers from across the U.S. and Canada. Get to know more about DSANA!
