Adult students and Judy outside 1 room school Mali village

Outreach Activities

We participated in the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer program: Ethiopia (2006) and Mali (2010 and 2011).

Mali is a landlocked country situated in Western Africa. The Niger River runs through the southern portion of the country and provides exceptional fertile valleys with irrigation and fishing resources. The dairy industry is significant and growing in spite of a lack of rural electricity and refrigeration. Milk is held, transported and stored at a hot temperature. Containers are often transported by bicycle or motorcycle to newly established government sponsored collection centers and then stored hot in kettles over charcoal fires.

Milk is an important but scarce protein for children especially during the long dry season. Many of the newly settled nomadic communities do not have a milking culture although they have flocks of sheep and goats. These formerly nomadic families historically use lamb and goat meat as a source of wealth for emergency funds and special occasions such as wedding or birth ceremonies. Judy’s project provided a series of trainings on improving goat and sheep milk quality and quantity in a small, formerly nomadic village. Larry’s project explored and sourced local feeds for improved animal nutrition during the dry season. (Note: although land telephone lines are only in major cities the cell phone coverage in the rural areas is exceptional and exceeds our coverage in rural Wisconsin.)

Ethiopia is one of the most stunning places in Africa and the source of the Blue Nile. Agriculture is the backbone of the economy and responsible for the major livelihood for families. The rapidly growing population with repeated droughts has resulted in chronic poverty, degradation of natural resources and severe food insecurity across the country. The USAID initiative provided technical assistance in integrated agricultural development. The project strengthened agricultural research, extension, watershed management, capacity building and micro-enterprise development.

Our projects worked with the production and marketing of sheep and goats a staple for rural families. Sheep and goats are a resource that can transform inedible brush and grasses into nutritious meat with very low inputs. Young children can handle flocks of sheep and goats with ease. Whereas cattle need to be supplemented with high priced grains lamb and goats thrive on a diet of native grasses and browse. Ethiopia has a small ruminant population of 5.3 million sheep and 4.8 million goats kept mainly by small farmers as a sole or supplementary source of cash income. Our reports assessed the current production and marketing methods and provided short and long term strategies for development and improvement.

Somali Goat Meat Preference Survey, Fall 2004

Minneapolis is the new home of the largest national population of Somali refugees. This survey was funded for Shepherd Song Farm in 2005 by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection whose support is gratefully acknowledged. The survey was input and analyzed by the Survey Research Center at the University of Wisconsin River Falls.

Wisconsin Public Radio Interview

Shepherd Song Farm owners Larry Jacoby and Judy Moses Jacoby were guests on Here on Earth radio show on March 23, 3007.

Newspaper Article Archives

The owners of Shepherd Song Farm say a market exists for their product.

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Speaking and Conference Archives:

  • Second Annual YOK-SUNY Collaboration Symposium. Co-authored paper presented by Dr. Joe Regenstein. Spirit of Humane, Scientific Collaboration for Sustainable Development. May 23-25, 2007. YOK-SUNY CUKUROVA University, Turkey.
  • Living off the Land. Speaker. Multi-species Grazing and Parasite Control, May 26, 2007. Camp Douglas, Wisconsin.
  • Meat Marketing: Some of your business. Conference development, organizer. Sessions: Eating your values. What makes meat craveable. Listening to the consumer. The importance of how we grow our food. Finding your passion–finding your customers. March 24, 2007. Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Rice Lake, Wisconsin.
  • Focus on Goats. Speaker: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade Consumer Safety Conference, Madison, WI. February 15, 2007. Madison, WI.
  • Wisconsin Indianhead Sheep Breeders, Assoc. Conference: Session development, organizer: Ethnic Marketing. Humane Certification of Meat Products. February 10, 2007. Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Rice Lake, WI.
  • 15th Annual Wisconsin Grazing Conference. Speaker: Gotta Get Yourself Some Goats, February 2-3, 2007. Tape available from: GrassWorks, Inc. Paul Nehring, Director, 210 River Drive, Wausau, WI 54403. phone: 715-261-6009 mail@grassworks.org
  • Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture. Alternative Livestock Systems Program. Speaker: Who Eats Goat Meat? Do You? March 18, 2006. Marshall, Minnesota.
  • Ethnic and Religious Food Markets: Opportunities for sheep and goat producers. Conference Development and Speaker. October 18, 2005. Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Rice Lake, Wisconsin.
  • Wisconsin Indianhead Sheep Breeders, Assoc. Conference. Speaker: Marketing to Culturally Diverse Families. February 5, 2005. Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College. Rice Lake, WI.