JUDA, Wis. — Jeff Wideman has made a career out of making award-winning cheese.
Week-old lambs live the life at Ms. J and Co., a farm near Juda that has plans to create a flock of 1,500 Assaf sheep.
Mariana Marques de Almeida, left, and animal scientist and expert in genetics, and Jeff Wideman, lead cheesemaker at Maple Leaf Cheese near Monroe, hold the first lamb born for their Ms. J and Co. dairy sheep farm near Juda. Marques de Almeida, a native of Portugal, is a partner in the project along with Wideman and his longtime business partner, Shirley Knox. The sheep farm, which could some day have 1,500 sheep, is on the property near Juda on which Wideman was raised.
Tim Omer, president and managing director of Emmi Roth USA, headquartered in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, celebrates with a kiss the 2016 World Championship Cheese Contest grand champ Roth Grand Cru Surchoix. He is flanked by judges Robert Aschebrock -- left -- and Stan Dietsche.
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Jordan Knox tends pens containing lambs born in recent weeks that will be used to create a flock of 1,500 Assaf sheep for a dairy operation near Juda. Genetics for the project were developed in Spain and the first frozen semen shipped to the U.S. in June.
Jordan Knox leads a cooperative pregnant ewe out of a barn at Ms. J and Co., a farm trying to create a flock of 1,500 Assaf dairy sheep near Juda. The Assaf breed is known for its high milk production and rich quality.
Mariana Marques de Almeida holds the first lamb born through an effort to introduce the Assaf breed of sheep into the U.S.
Work continues on the exterior of Ms. J. & Co.'s new lamb facility near Juda. The construction of a barn for 1,500 dairy sheep will begin this spring. L
Jeff Wideman, a partner in Ms. J. & Co., uses the halves of plastic barrels to transport newborn sheep in the back of his Lincoln Navigator he has dubbed the "ewebermobile." To avoid the transfer of disease to his new sheep farm near Juda, lambs are born on a different farm and immediately transferred to the new farm.
Barry Adams covers regional news for the Wisconsin State Journal. Send him ideas for On Wisconsin at 608-252-6148 or by email at badams@madison.com.
