Board Members &
Committees

The leadership of DSANA is made up of 12 elected Board members, each serving a 4-year term. Board members are all volunteers and your fellow dairy sheep farmers!

Any DSANA member can run for the board, attend a board meeting, or join A Committee.
Just email us: hello@dsana.org

Board of Directors

Bee Tolman, President - Meadowood Farms, Cazenovia, NY
Bee started in the livestock business in the early 1980s and has farmed every beast except horses. She began milking sheep in 1998, and now co-manages a 150-ewe flock in upstate New York, selling the milk to regional processors.

Carrie Wasser, Vice President - Willow Pond Sheep Farm, Gardiner, NY
Carrie milked her first sheep in 2020 and (quite literally!) hasn't had time to look back. She and her husband, Brent, milk 40 pasture-raised ewes and sell yogurt and bottled milk in the Hudson Valley.

Sarah Hoffmann, Secretary - Green Dirt Farm, Weston, MO
(bio coming soon)

Lynn Swanson, Treasurer - Glendale Shepherd, Clinton, WA
Lynn has been milking sheep on her Whidbey Island farm since 2010. She currently milks 60 sheep and produces cheese and yogurt sold in the Pacific Northwest. 

Terry Felda, Vice Treasurer - Tin Willows Farm, Ione, OR
Terry farms in Eastern Oregon and never said a cuss word until she started milking sheep in 2007. Now she can't stop either milking or cussing. She’s always open for a visit and free labor.

Tom Clark - Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, Old Chatham, NY
Tom has been on the board for 12 years and has focused on semen importation for the past several years. He is happy to say that farms using the imported semen have seen a dramatic increase in milk.

Lesa Gibbs - Green Barn Farm, Livingston, CA
(bio coming soon)

Becca Matthews - Hidden Hollow Farm, Murtaugh, ID
Becca milks 60 ewes (out of 250 total) and is in the process of remodeling her dairy so she can process milk on site and make cheese to sell to the public. She documents all the chaos around her Hidden Hollow Sheep Dairy on her YouTube channel of the same name. 

Tom Pyne - Ballyglen Farm, Brownsburg, VA
Tom and his wife Melanie have been milking sheep commercially since 2013. Currently, they milk 30 ewes for a line of sheep’s milk cheeses made by Razzbourne Farms.

Debbie Webster - Whispering Pines Farm, Mauldin, SC
(bio coming soon)

Kyle White - Milkhouse Farm & Dairy, Smith Falls, ON
Kyle and Caitlin White own a small sheep dairy in Ontario, Canada. They milk 70 ewes seasonally and process all of their milk to cheese on farm.

Christen Waddell - Livestock Manager, Blackberry Farm, Walland, TN
Christen manages the dairy and creamery at Blackberry Farm, where she milks 80-120 pasture-raised sheep for Blackberry's artisan cheeses. She also owns a small flock of dairy sheep at her home.

Committees

We welcome any DSANA member to participate in one of our committees!
email us at hello@dsana.org to join one of our projects

Finance ComMitTee

Lynn Swanson, Treasurer
Terry Felda, Vice Treasurer
Bee Tolman
Tom Clark
Kyle White

The Finance Committee oversees DSANA’s budget, income, expenditures, and sets its financial course through analysis and recommendations.

Genetic Improvement Committee

Lynn Swanson, Chair
Matt Gelbwaks, PIP Coordinator (Black Eyed Susan Sheep Dairy, NH)
Tom Clark, Semen Importation Coordinator
Bee Tolman
Rebecca King
Eliza Spertus
Mariana Marques de Almeida
Becca Matthews
Sarah Hoffmann
Terry Felda
Christen Waddell

The Genetic Improvement Committee gathers and disseminates information for dairy sheep producers on using genetic evaluation to improve milk production and other attributes; also coordinates the DSANA Genetic Evaluation Program.

Symposium Committee

Bee Tolman, Co-Chair Programming
Christen Waddell, Co-Chair Programming
Terry Felda. Co-Chair Local Host
Lesa Gibbs. Co-Chair Local Host
Kyle White
Debbie Webster
Carrie Wasser
Becca Matthews
Matt Gelbwaks
Tom Pyne
Sarah Hoffmann
Mariana Marques de Almeida

The Symposium Committee organizes the annual DSANA Dairy Sheep Symposium, which has taken place almost every year since 1995.

Nutrition Committee

Tom Pyne, Chair
Bee Tolman
Christen Waddell
Sarah Hoffmann
Barbie Casey
Carol Delaney
Becca Matthews
Terry Felda

The Nutrition Committee gathers and disseminates information on the topic that a majority of DSANA members have said is most important to them: dairy sheep nutrition.