Final report for FNE25-133
Project Information
The objective of this project was to a) develop a farmer-friendly assessment system for scoring dairy sheep udders and to b) write a Farmers’ Guide that will aide farmers in understanding how and why to assess their flocks’ udders and then how to integrate the udder scores into their breeding programs. The goal was to provide a tool that would be easy to learn, quick to accomplish, and readily incorporated into the breeding program of every commercial sheep dairy flock, the use of which would rapidly make dairy flocks more milkable without sacrificing milk production.
The project was a collaboration between Johanne Cameron, a longtime Extension associate serving dairy sheep producers in Quebec; Andrea Mongini DVM, a dairy vet and nutritionist with a specialty in small-ruminant dairies; and Bee Tolman, a 27-year veteran of milking sheep. The collaboration involved considering all udder traits that had been studied in European research, identifying four traits with the greatest genetic importance (heritability plus strong correlations with overall improvements in udder conformation), and creating a scoring system easily adopted by farmers. After beta-testing the system on two Quebec dairies and four Northeast dairies, a Farmers’ Guide was written to explain udder anatomy, demonstrate the udder-scoring method and the use of the scores in a breeding program, and lay out the economic benefits of on-farm scoring.
The project was extremely successful due to its collaborative nature and the authors’ laser focus on creating a system that would easy for farmers to implement and writing a Guide that would present the system in accurate and understandable language.
The outreach to date has included a presentation at DSANA’s November 2024 [virtual] Dairy Sheep Symposium, attended by 76 people and subsequently viewed by 14 people in the following 60 days; posting the Farmers’ Guide on the DSANA website, free to download, and subsequently read and/or downloaded by 104 people in the first six days after posting; and a webinar devoted to Q&A on the use of the system, attended by 30 people.
The objective of this project was to a) develop an farmer-friendly assessment system for scoring dairy sheep udders and to b) write a Farmers’ Guide that will aide farmers in understanding how and why to assess their flocks’ udders and then how to integrate the udder scores into their breeding programs.
- Tolman compiles background information on the Quebec sheep classification system and its dairy sheep module, on the physiological structures involved in udder conformation in dairy sheep, and on udder trait heritabilities and the correlations between udder traits.
- Tolman travels to Quebec to work with J.Cameron and Kathy Michaud of the Société des éleveurs de moutons de race pure du Québec (SEMPRQ), two Quebec dairy sheep farmers, and Andrea Mongini (via Zoom) to understand and adapt the udder classification system. Group visits to two dairy sheep farms using the udder classification system. Tolman documents process with notes, photos, and videos, interviews the farmers about what and hasn’t worked, and about any observed udder conformation changes. B.Tolman also visits Laval University’s Genovalia lab currently identifying the ovine genome and developing an AI classification system for sheep.
- Tolman creates the 1st draft of the Farmer Guide on Dairy Sheep Udder Classifications, including udder anatomy, scoring key udder traits, recommendations on when and how to score ewes, suggested systems for recording scores. 1st draft reviewed by A. Mongini in preparation for trialling at Northeast sheep dairies.
- Tolman trials udder classification system on four Northeast sheep dairies, using the draft Farmer Guide to classify udders of a cumulative 200 ewes in the parlor during morning milking. Tolman documents the process including photos, problems, solutions, and farmer feedback and suggestions.
- B. Tolman works with A. Mongini on Farmer Guide, incorporating farmer feedback and experiences in classifying 200 ewes on four farms, describing four key udder traits and their anatomical structures, outlining udder examples of trait scores, outlining economic impacts of selecting for udder conformation.
- B.Tolman presents at the November 2025 DSANA (Dairy Sheep Association of North America) Virtual Symposium on the North American Udder Classification System and on the dairy sheep ligament structures that impact udder conformation. Presentation also to include the Economics of Udder Conformation Scoring, and introductory information on scoring the dams of potential flock sires. Presentation to be recorded and posted on DSANA website.
- B.Tolman finalizes Farmer Guide, including background info on supporting physiology, trait illustrations and score cards, guidance on scoring live animals, recommendations on use of scores in developing a breeding program, and the economics of udder conformation scoring, and introductory information on scoring the dams of potential flock sires. Guide to be posted in full on DSANA website.
In the US, there is no system of objectively assessing dairy sheep udder conformation as there is in cow and goat dairying. US and Northeast sheep dairy farmers have ranked udder conformation as their #1 challenge. This project will address this need by bringing Quebec’s recently-launched udder classification system to dairy sheep producers in the Northeast.
There has been no US research on dairy sheep milk production or management since U. Wisconsin closed the Spooner Research Station in 2016. Since the 1970s there has been some European research to classify dairy sheep udders. But both the UWisc and the European research used ewes producing 600 lbs of milk/lactation, while US flock averages have been increasing and are now nearing averages of 1,000 lb/ewe/season (most peaking near 7 lbs/d) -- and top ewes are producing 2,000 lbs/lactation (peaking at 12 lbs/d), including at the applicant’s farm. The increased milk production helps farms’ financial sustainability but puts strains udders with inadequate physical structure to support the added daily milk.
At her farm, B. Tolman has used a single photo to eye-ball score ewes on a scale of 1 (udder on floor due to ligament rupture, teats facing East/West) to 5 (strong suspensory ligament, teats point down). Host farm Meadowood Farms generally culls ~ five “Score1” ewes/year, and sees maybe one single ewe with a “Score5” every two or three years.
Opportunity
Quebec recently completed an dairy sheep udder classification system piloted on Quebec sheep dairies. It builds on European research on udder traits and is modeled after the US dairy goat linear assessment system. In addition to whole-body linear assessment, it describes 9 udder traits, each weighted for heritability and correlation with other traits, and each given a set of illustrations and trait scores.
Johanne Cameron, President of SEMRPQ (Quebec Purebred Sheep Breeders Society) and Project Lead for the classification system, has invited B. Tolman to travel to Quebec to learn the classification system methods. Ms Cameron recommends that B. Tolman also shadow Quebec’s certified sheep classifier on visits to sheep dairy farms using the system, meet with the developer of the EweManage software package which allows farmers to upload classification scores and udder pictures onto pedigree charts, and with the Genovalia lab at Quebec’s Université Laval, which has developed an ovine genomic database.
Ms Cameron has also wholeheartedly agreed to share the udder-trait illustrations and scoring charts, for use in creating a farmer guide for assessing udder conformations.
Evidence of need/interest
DSANA conducted a farmer survey in September 2025, sent it to ~ 75 US member farms. 24 farms responded, 30% of which are located in SARE’s Northeast region.
In short, most Northeast dairy sheep producers are small-scale operators with limited experience: 70% milk less than 100 ewes and have been milking less than 10 years, with 86% reporting gross farm sales <$226,300. Northeast respondents rated udder conformation as the highest informational need, with 70% describing it as “High” or “Enormous”. 83% responded that “there is not much information nor much guidance” available on the management of dairy sheep and said that they “Mostly” go to fellow dairy sheep producers or DSANA’s website for information, and “Almost never” or “Not often” used Extension or University expertise.
B.Tolman’s one-on-one conversations with Northeast farmers support the survey results:
Raspberry Ridge, PA, 40 ewes: “Our farm's largest expense is the labor required to milk our ewes. Three quarters of our dairy ewes require that we massage their udders to extract their milk into the pipeline. This increases our labor cost and makes it harder for our farm to become profitable.”
Black-eyed Susan Sheep Dairy, NH, 50 ewes: emphasized the isolation of dairy sheep farmers, said support and “hand-holding” is needed to adopt data-based management tools.
Vermont Shepherd, VT, 250 ewes: “As our production has improved, we now emphasize udder conformation as much or more than production when we make our selection choices.”
Dr Andrea Mongini has twice presented on udder conformation at DSANA virtual Symposia: on “Introduction to Udder Conformation in Dairy Ewes”, January 2021, the recording has been viewed 70 times as of November 2024; and then a follow-up presentation on “Breeding for Improved Udder Conformation”, November 2023, viewed 32 times (personal communication with Kyle White, DSANA web manager).
We as dairy sheep farmers want to know how to objectively assess the udders, how to recognize family lines with strengths or weaknesses in key udder traits, how to use the data in a breeding program that capitalizes on genetic strengths for udder conformation traits and improves our flocks’ udder conformation.
Proposed solution:
B.Tolman compiles a layman’s understanding of the mammary, skeletal, and ligament physiology behind udder conformational traits, then travels to Quebec to learn their dairy sheep udder classification system. Ms Tolman trials the system at host sheep dairies in the Northeast. Tolman drafts a guide for sheep dairy farmers, works with A.Mongini to develop Guide and also classification system, then presents the classification system at DSANA’s 2025 Virtual Symposium. Farmers’ Guide will be published on the DSANA website.
Outcomes:
- Farmer Guide for the Quebec system of Dairy Sheep Udder Classification, a how-to manual for scoring procedures, with background information on physiological structures, picture and video guides, and recommendations on incorporating udder scores into a breeding program.
- Presentation at the DSANA 2025 Virtual Dairy Sheep Symposium: on the North American Udder Classification System and on the dairy sheep skeletal and ligament structures that impact udder conformation.
- The Guide and the recorded presentations will be available on the DSANA website: the Guide posted as a set of pdf chapters with links to videos, and the presentations Vimeo recordings.
- Webinar: held shortly after Symposium, to answer any farmers’ questions on incorporating the North American Udder Classification System on their farms.
Poor access to guidance on udder conformation limits the financial sustainability of the Northeast’s small dairy sheep producers. This project will provide farmers with much-needed and accessible help in using available tools to improve their flock’s udder conformation through objective scoring and the data-based breeding decisions.
Bee Tolman , Project Leader. Experience: Ms Tolman has owned or managed a milk-recorded dairy flock for 27 years (1998-2025), and has done ad-hoc udder scoring of dairy sheep for all of those years. Ms Tolman has been Farm Manager at Meadowood Farms for 22 years (2004-2025). Prior experience: 6 yrs as owner/operator Tolman Sheep Dairy Farm in Chittenango NY, milking 350 ½-dairy ewes (1998-2004); 5 yrs as dairy farm worker in New Zealand (1993-1998); 7 yrs as shepherd in New England and Scotland (1982-1989). Received a Masters in Animal Science, Virginia Tech 1993; thesis: Budget analysis of quarter-Finn and Western ewes in spring- and fall-lambing systems. Currently President of the Dairy Sheep Association of North America (DSANA), since 2017.
At Meadowood Farms, a 150-ewe dairy in Cazenovia NY, we milked 150 Friesian x Lacaune dairy ewes starting in 2005. Gross farm sales of ~$180,000, with sale of milk to out-of-state processor ~80% of our revenues; sale of meat lambs and replacement dairy animals ~ 16% of revenues, and retail meat & land rental ~ 4% of revenues. Transitioned in 2022 to 100% out-of-season (fall-lambing) production, to meet the unfilled market for fall/winter milk. The Meadowood Farms sheep dairy closed its doors in May 2025.
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
Research
- Tolman compiled existing information on udder conformation classification system, April 2025
- The anatomy of the skeletal and ligament structures that are behind stronger and weaker udder conformations and impact teat placement and udder depth. Sources were primarily for cow dairy udder anatomy, with limited goat anatomy and virtually no dairy sheep anatomy.
- J Cameron’s presentation on the body of European research into udder scoring, the existing Quebec system for dairy sheep udder classification, ADGA udder classification materials, scientific articles on heritabilities of dairy sheep udder traits
- Traits evaluated in the Quebec classification program, all on a scale of 1-9:
- Height of udder floor = 20 % of total point value for mammary classification-- height of udder floor relative to hock, range is Low under the hock to High, with 4/5/6 having greatest value
- Furrow depth (suspensory ligament) = 20 % of total point value for mammary classification -- range is “poor/absent” to High, strong and well defined, with 9 having greatest value
- Teat position = 15 % of total point value for mammary classification -- range is Horizontal, pointing up and on the side to Pointing down, with 9 having greatest value
- Teat angle (relative to the front of the udder) = 5 % of total point value for mammary classification– range is Behind the udder to In front of the udder, with 3/4/5 having greatest value
- Strength of fore-udder attachment = 10 % of total point value for mammary classification -- range is Poor, weak, narrow to the body to Strong, wide and long attachment, with 9 having greatest value
- Texture of udder = 5 % of total point value for mammary classification -- range is Fleshy, meaty to Thin, supple, with 9 having greatest value
- Rear udder width attachment = 11 % of total point value for mammary classification -- range is Narrow to Wide, with 9 having greatest value
- Height of rear udder attachment = 12 % of total point value for mammary classification -- range is Low to High, with 9 having greatest value
- Teat length and shape = 2 % of total point value for mammary classification -- range is Too short to Too long, too big, with 4/5/6 having greatest value
- Tolman, J.Cameron, and A.Mongini met via Zoom to disucss the 9 classified udder traits, which of the traits are most likely to be implemented by farms but also have most potential for rapid impact on flock udder conformations, and the use of photo images to classify udder traits.
Tolman traveled to Quebec to learn system for grading udder conformation, May 2025
- Met with J.Cameron, SEMPRQ director Cathy Michaud, farmer Tommy Lavoie, and farmer Audrey Boulet to discuss Quebec udder classification system:
- Trait illustrations drawn by J.Cameron and C.Michaud: their relationship to live animal, how to give objective number to range of phenotypic presentations
- The use of photos as proxy for live-animal assessment
- angle of photo, distance from ewe, stance of ewe
- measuring distances and angles on photos to make selection of trait score
- in the absence of a “trained/certified classifier”, can measurements and scoring of udder traits be satisfactorily used to classify udders?
- Ideal conditions for assessment: days in milk, how closely shorn, pre-milking
- Heritabilities of 9 udder traits and their correlations to each other
- The use of recording udder scores on digital table with software designed for udder scoring vs pencil and paper on clipboard
- The use of “tools” to increase objectivity of scoring
- Observed milking and trial udder scoring on 100 ewes at Ferme les Brebis du Beaurivage, Lévis, QC, farm of Audrey Boulet
- Met with xx and xx at Genovalia lab at Universite de Laval, to get overview of future incorporation of udder traits in EBVs and the future use of DNA to select for udder traits
- Observed milking and trial udder scoring on 150 ewes at Brebis du Nord, in Baie-Saint-Paul, NE of Quebec City, farm owned by Tommy LaVoie.
During the meeting, B.Tolman asked J.Cameron, C.Michaud, and the two farmers:
- How many of the 9 udder traits do they score, is the classification process manageable and how much time does it take per ewe
- How many people does it take to classify efficiently?
- What is their method of recording scores? Are you using the electronic version on a tablet to record scores? RFIDs and stick readers?
- Do you feel that it is easy or difficult score to the traits? Does it get faster/easier with experience?
- What and hasn’t worked, what have you changed about the process, and what do you wish was different?
- Do you use EweManage software to record udders on pedigree charts, and what udder conformation changes have you seen.
During the farm visits, discussions were held regarding:
- Strengths and weaknesses of the Quebec system
- Methods of recording scores
- The number of traits that farmers would reasonably be able and willing to assess
- The advantages and disadvantages of using photos vs live animals for scoring
- The ideal conditions for scoring dairy udders
B.Tolman drafted chapters on dairy mammary anatomy and the Quebec system using 4 traits for classification. May 2025.
Beta testing of revised Quebec system at four Northeast US sheep dairies. May and June 2025.
In mid-May and early June, B.Tolman visited 4 Northeast sheep dairies to beta test the udder conformation scoring system:
- Willow Pond Sheep Dairy, Gardiner, NY. Carrie and Brent Wasser, owner-operators.
- Three Charm Farm, Alfred, ME. Ingrid Claesson, owner-operator. Also husband Edward Sabatini and milker Deborah.
- Raspberry Ridge Creamery, Bangor, PA. Rob Dunning, farm owner-operator.
- Joined by Catherine McLeod, farm owner, On the Morrow Farm, Tyrone, PA
- Blackeyed Susan Sheep Dairy, Mont Vernon, NH. Matt Gelbwaks and Julie Whitcomb, owner-operators.
On each farm, the following education and scoring aids were tested:
- Farmers’ Guide draft chapters on udder anatomy
- Tools for objective measurement of traits
- Barn score sheet for recording trait scores in the parlor
- Illustrations of 4 udder traits
- “Trait calculator” on Excel, for giving weighted scoring to each trait
- Picture-taking process
The five farm owners asked the following questions:
- Is this worth our time?
- The trait called “Rear Attachment” is ambiguous to score
- How do I incorporate these scores into my breeding program?
October 2025: B.Tolman and A.Mongini completed first draft of Farmer Guide on classifying and scoring the udder traits using live animals, with chapters on udder anatomy, descriptions on scoring 4 primary traits with photos of the range of scores for each trait, recommendations on when and how to score ewes, systems for recording scores and for incorporating scores into breeding programs, the economics of improving udder conformation, and a discussion of scoring the udders of the dams of flock sires.
November 2025: B.Tolman presented the udder conformation system – now called the “North American Udder Assessment System” at the 2025 DSANA Virtual Symposium on November 12, 2025 during a 45-minute presentation plus 15-minute Q&A. Attendee questions indicated areas of the Farmers’ Guide that required further or clearer explanation.
December 2025:
- Tolman and A. Mongini used the questions posed during the Symposium presentation to finalize the Farmers’ Guide to Dairy Sheep Udder Assessment:
CHAPTER 1: The Udder
- The Udder: Alveolar and Cisternal areas
- The Ligaments
- Non-heritable factors – non-genetic reasons for the udder’s ligament structures to weaken
- Teat position
- Illustration credits, references for Chapt. I, Udder Anatomy
CHAPTER 2: How to Score the Four Milking Flock Traits
- Udder floor depth
- Medial Suspensory Ligament (MSL)
- Teat placement (TP)
- Rear Udder Attachment (RA)
CHAPTER 3: WHEN AND HOW TO ASSESS AND SCORE UDDER CONFORMATION
CHAPTER 5: THE ECONOMICS OF UDDER CONFORMATION
- The economics of milking time
- The economics of unharvested milk
- The economics of increased somatic cell counts
- Fewer lactations per ewe => more replacements needed
CHAPTER 6: SCORING FOR THE SELECTION OF REPLACEMENT FLOCK SIRES
- Rump angle
- Fore Udder attachment
- Hip/rump width
- Forward teat angle
Although this was not a research project per se, the original udder classification system developed in Quebec was greatly amended to create a farmer-friendly system. The original group that met in Quebec (Tolman, Cameron, Michaud, LaVoie, Boulet, and Mongini [virtually]) agreed that the original nine traits, the need for a certified assessor, and the use of uploading trait scores into a software package were all too cumbersome for use and integration by the average farmer. Indeed, even in Quebec, of the half-dozen sheep dairies that started the project, only one dairy remained using the system.
The main points of change decided by the group over the course of two days at the Quebec meeting:
- Reduce the number of traits, and selected traits that European research had indicated were most correlated with overall udder conformation;
- Identify scoring methods which could be easily used by farmers without formal linear assessment training. Dependence on a trained classifier was challenging, because it depended on the classifier’s schedule and availability and it forced the farm to classify all animals on one occasion, regardless of days in milk.
- Use a paper system to record barn scores for transfer to a spreadsheet program, instead of software on a tablet. The goal was to have as many farmers use the system as quickly as possibly, and remove any possible barriers to uptake.
- Find ways to score the traits without the use of “tools” such as rulers or protractors, which impede the speed of scoring and do no substantively improve accuracy.
More refinements were made to the system during the beta-testing on the four Northeast sheep dairies:
- The Barn Score Sheet was redesigned to allow vertical entry of scoring so that the farmer can easily compare how they scored a particular trait through a row in milking.
- The Trait Reference Card was very handy to use when scoring in the parlor and very easy to use if printed in color and laminated.
- The Trait Score Calculator was redesigned on Excel for ease of use by any farmer with basic Excel knowledge.
- Pictures of every ewe are highly recommended for future reference, i.e., when tracing lineages.
The questions from the five beta-testing farm owners were instructive, and chapters in the Farmers’ Guide were added to address the economic value of assessing udder conformation and including udder scores in a breeding program. Also, by the fourth and final farm, when the “training” program was more refined making farmer comprehension was more solid, udder assessments by the farmer alone were timed at 25 seconds/ewe for scoring and recording traits, 10 seconds/ewe for picture taking, and 25 seconds/ewe to get tag numbers.
Much of the system’s development occurred during the process of writing the Guide and focusing on the perspective of the reader as a farmer with no background in mammary anatomy: a) relating the Rear Attachment trait to the lateral ligament structure of the ruminant dairy animal; b) developing a way to describe the Rear Attachment trait to a lay person (this was perhaps the biggest “a-ha” moment in the entire development of the system); and c) collecting a huge volume of udder photos to provide teaching examples of udder trait scores in the Farmers’ Guide.
The process of developing the North American Udder Assessment System and the accompanying Farmers’ Guide was an enormously successful collaborative effort between sheep dairy industry members in Canada and the United States.
The goal of this project was to develop a system of assessing and scoring dairy flocks’ udder conformation, which farmers could implement quickly and easily on their own farms, ultimately making their ewes – and those of the entire dairy sheep industry – more milkable.
The system developed in this project works with every ewe in the flock scored using only 4 udder traits, all of which can be scored once a year at any point during the peak lactation period, in the milking parlor with clipboard/paper/pencil, and without handling the ewes. The Farmers’ Guide illustrates how farmers can use udder scoring in their breeding programs to identify the milking ewes from whom farmers will select replacements –replacement ewe lambs and the potential ram lambs that might become herd sires.
In using this udder assessment system, farmers can identify the strengths and weaknesses in their milking string’s udder characteristics, to make great improvements in udders and 1) milk the flock without the use of Sagi hooks or machine-stripping; and 2) reduce the number of ewes culled for time-consuming or structurally-blown udders, thereby reducing the percentage of the lamb crop retained as replacements.
Analysis of research on the costs of poor udders showed that improving udder conformation will result in less milking time, less unharvested milk, lower somatic cell counts resulting in better milk yield and milk quality, and more lactations per ewe resulting in fewer ewe lambs retained as replacements. By incorporating this system, sheep dairy flocks can become more milkable without sacrificing flock milk production. By producing more milk of higher quality from the same feed inputs and less milking labor, flocks will realize increases in both milking efficiency and productivity.
Education & outreach activities and participation summary
Participation summary:
Presentation by Bee Tolman at the 2025 DSANA virtual Dairy Sheep Symposium. 75 attendees were listed, but DSANA Board members have been told that there were “watching groups” – from a dairy in Washington, the owner and 5 employees gathered to watch the presentation; from a dairy in Tennessee, the farm manager and 3 employees gathered to watch; a 25-farm Mennonite cooperative in Ontario met at a restaurant to watch.
Recorded Symposium presentation. The Symposium presentation was recorded and posted on the DSANA website on November 17th. As of January 15, 2026, the recording had been viewed 14 time.
Webinar. After the Symposium presentation in November, the DSANA Board received comments that there was insufficient time to answer questions after the presentation. (After the 49-minutes presentation, and there was only 11 minutes for a moderated Q&A.) The Board asked B.Tolman and A. Mongini to schedule a webinar that would give a brief overview of the Udder Assessment System, give more information on traits to consider in the dams of flock sires, and allow more time for questions. The webinar was held on Monday January 12. 65 people registered for the webinar (30% were from NESARE's catchment area) and over 30 attended on the day (we could see multiple attendees on individual screens).
The Farmers’ Guide, with the supplementary files for Barn Scoring Sheet, Trait Score Reference Card, and Trait Score Calculator. All were posted on the DSANA website, free to the public. An email announcing that the Guide was available was sent on January 9, 2026 to 135 DSANA member farms via email. As of January 15 (i.e., 6 days later) the Guide had been viewed and/or downloaded 104 times.
Bee Tolman and Andrea Mongini have applied for an NEDBIC grant to form a six-farm farm-profitablity discussion group for dairy sheep producers in the Northeast; awardees are to be announced in January 2026. Developing breeding programs is an integral part of the project, and the six farms will all incorporate this project’s Udder Assessment system into their breeding programs.
Presentations to industry professionals. Dr Andrea Mongini has been asked to include information on the Udder Assessment System as part of her invited presentation on “Genetic Selection for Improving Udder Conformation in Dairy Ewes” at the ICAR 2026 Annual Conference in Verona Italy in May, and has also been asked to present the system at the 4th EAAP (European Federation of Animal Science) Regional Meeting at the University of Sassari, Italy. Dr Mongini says she believes that “the Guide is professional enough to be adopted at university level, for instance for use in Animal Science classes. I will also ask to present the Guide and the Udder Assessment system to industry professionals at veterinary conferences.”
Bee Tolman has also been asked to hold a farm workshop on the Udder Conformation Assessment System at the 2026 Dairy Sheep Conference in Toronto, Ontario, in November 2026. Expected attendance is 100-200 dairy sheep producers, many from the Northeast US. This workshop will be held at a fall-lambing farm so that peak lactation udders can be assessed and scored by interested attendees.
Learning Outcomes
After the January 12th webinar, a survey was sent to 135 DSANA members, asking for feedback from those who had watched the November 2025 Symposium presentation, read the Farmers’ Guide, or attended the January 2026 webinar. 17 responded; as with those who registered for the webinar, 30% of survey respondents were from the SARE Northeast catchment. To the question “Are you likely to implement the Udder Scoring System on your farm?”, 100% of the respondents said “Yes”.
With this project we intended to create a tool that would be quickly and easily taken up by dairy sheep producers. These tools aimed to improve farmer understanding of the anatomy behind the dairy sheep udder conformation, provide a means for farmers to assess and score the udders in their flocks, and provide a tool for farmers to incorporate udder conformation trait scores in their breeding programs. The feedback we received after the Symposium and in the survey indicates that this project – the assessment system and the Farmers’ Guide – are indeed accessible to virtually all dairy sheep producers, regardless of experience or background. Here are some examples of the feedback we’ve received:
- I've already implemented it! I am looking to reduce milking time/labor
- I think it's very important and beneficial to my operation as well as to buyers for my sheep.
- The scoring system is remarkably simple and easy. We have no reservations about using it in the parlor this coming season. For the short amount of time it will take to score udders, we will receive back so much more in regained time, higher milk production, and healthier ewes.
- thanks it was informative and inspiring
- It's great because simple to use systems are the best and most likely to be used.
- It gave me a lot to think about, but it came just at the right time. Lambing will start any day now, and I've been going over all the information I know about each ewe to decide which lambs to keep. The information you provided today is a huge help.
- This is a great time for me to do these assessments. I now have grand dams and 2 rams (one bought and one raised here) to do some comprehensive evaluations on. It will be interesting to see how the udders have changed over the past 3 generations and also what the rams have contributed.
Project Outcomes
After the January 12th webinar, a survey was sent to 135 DSANA members, 17 responded. 30% of respondents were from the SARE Northeast catchment. To the question “Are you likely to implement the Udder Scoring System on your farm?”, 100% of the respondents said “Yes”.
I will let the comments from those who watched the Symposium or joined the Webinar speak for themselves:
Comments in the Chat box during the November 2025 DSANA virtual Dairy Sheep Symposium.
- Katherine MacLoed, PA. “This is a great system, thank you.”
- Kathleen Elliot, IN, “so pleased to get this process for Udder Evaluation. Everyone is going to be looking for better rams to influence conformation. The rise of the ram, finally! Thank you!”
- Axel Meister, ON. “Thanks for finally making this available to everyone.”
The entire survey is uploaded below, but here are a few of the most gratifying responses.
Q: If your replied yes, that you are likely to implement the Udder Scoring System on your farm, please tell us why.
- We have been frustrated by how long it takes to milk our sheep. This also results in excess labor costs. It's pretty clear from the presentation that better udders will make our milking more efficient.
- I've already implemented it! I am looking to reduce milking time/labor.
- Our milk production has increased with better selections and using Genovis, but our udders are still all over the map.
- We would so appreciate any feedback, comments, thoughts, impressions, or requests you might have regarding the Scoring System.
- The scoring system is remarkably simple and easy. We have no reservations about using it in the parlor this coming season. For the short amount of time it will take to score udders, we will receive back so much more in regained time, higher milk production, and healthier ewes.
- It's great because simple to use systems are the best and most likely to be used.
- It gave me a lot to think about, but it came just at the right time. Lambing will start any day now, and I've been going over all the information I know about each ewe to decide which lambs to keep. The information you provided today is a huge help.
- And we would also really appreciate any feedback, comments, thoughts, impressions, or requests you might have regarding the Farmers' Guide.
- “Thank you for the time and thought put into it” seems so inadequate. There is so much to take in and learn.
- It’s really an impressive document. I read through it once and was blown away. Really amazing, thanks to everyone involved!
- The farmers guide is going to be one of the greatest tools I have to move my herd in a more productive direction. I also want to point out that the trainings on this guide have been superb. DSANA is a fantastic organization and I'm very proud to be a member. Thanks to all of you that work so hard to help us all.
- Final survey results
A large part of the original discussions and debates in Quebec was regarding who was the immediate audience for the system. As it stood then, the use of the system relied upon trained livestock appraisors and Extension personnel. After some hours of lively debate, it was decided that a “top-down” approach would languish with limited use, and that we had to make the system immediately accessible to farmers. If it could be readily understood and implemented, then its value would be almost immediately appreciated, and use amongst farmers would spread. We came to believe that “udder evaluation and selection” could become part of the dairy sheep farming lexicon, and with that, the practice would spread “upwards” to the industry’s university, extension, and professional levels.
Ultimately, this project has been 100% successful. We now have a system that is eminently usable by farmers, easy to understand and easy to implement. We have a Farmers’ Guide that will help any farmer, regardless of level of experience or knowledge, to assess their flock’s udders and incorporate their scores into a breeding program. From the responses we have been receiving from farmers, this system will be taken up and utilized in almost every sheep dairy going forward. Although we did not have the words for it at the time of the grant application, the goal of the system, as now stated in the Farmers’ Guide, is this: “Overall, this system of assessing and scoring your flock’s udder conformation is about making your ewes more milkable and making your milking process more efficient – more milk of higher quality from the same feed inputs and less milking labor.” I believe this system will be a godsend to many sheep dairies. For the last two or three decades, the physical act of milking sheep has been physically exhausting and financially draining, with farmers expending their most-costly and most-limited resource – time – and their second-most-limited resource – energy – to harvest milk from impossible udders. With this system, farmers will start to see changes in their flocks in a year. It’s huge.
Lastly, the reason this project and its resultant scoring system is, and will continue to be, so successful is because of a true team effort. From the outset each member of the team has been focussed on the prize: a more sustainable dairy sheep industry.
- Johanne Cameron is renowned in Quebec for her dedication to developing services and programs to meet the genetic needs of the dairy sheep industry in Quebec. Supported by funding from SEMRPQ, she conducted an extensive review of the European research on udder conformation genetics in dairy sheep, and then worked with SEMRPQ’s Executive Director, Kathy Michaud, to transform the European research into a dairy sheep module in SEMRPQ’s “Programme de classification des ovins” (“Program for Sheep Classification”). Without this foundational work and Ms Cameron’s willingness to share her work for the benefit of the entire dairy sheep industry, the current system for on-farm assessment of dairy sheep udder conformation literally would not exist.
- Dr Andrea Mongini brought her unparalled understanding of small-ruminant dairy anatomy and her experience with breeding programs for dairy sheep to advise on the development of both the scoring system and the Guide. She was entirely responsible for seeing the role played by the Lateral Ligaments and for the description and scoring of the fourth trait, the “Rear Attachment”, which had been elusive to all of us up to that point. And she continuously reviewed the ongoing development of the Farmers’ Guide, with meticulous attention to detail, resulting in a manual which is both accurate and, in her words, professional. This detail and accuracy will make the Guide a manual for both farmers and industry professionals for years to come.
- What Bee Tolman brought to the table, for better or for worse, was 27 years’ of struggle with unmilkable dairy sheep udders and attempts at all sorts of ad-hoc udder scoring systems. Her years of milking cows had shown her that other industries had evolved their animals’ udders, and her stint at graduate school gave her the background to learn about the anatomy behind udder conformation. This pushed her to work with Johanne Cameron and Andrea Mongini to develop an assessment and scoring system that could be easily adopted by farmers, along with a Guide that would present the system in accurate and understandable language.