Dutch Spotted Sheep make a debut in the U.S.

The Dutch Spotted Sheep (DSS) are an up-and-coming breed, making their first appearance in the U.S. earlier this year.

The first ever DSS to hit American soil – or anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere – was born at Mark and Karen Rodgers’ MKVT Farm in Glover, Vt. this May.

As their name suggests, DSS originated in the Netherlands and have been recognized since the early 1800s, with the original Dutch Association, Nederlands Bonte Schaap, established in October 2006.

According to the DSS Society U.S. (DSSSUS) website, “The breed was developed in West Netherlands, an area commonly covered in lakes, bogs and swamps which farmers reclaimed using connected embankments.”

In 2015, the DSS Society was formed in the United Kingdom (UK) and the first “Spotties” were imported from the Netherlands. 

DSSSUS was officially formed in December 2022, and they carefully selected bloodlines and quality genetics as they imported the very first Spotty embryos to the U.S., stated Mark, who is also the DSSSUS president and vice president of the Vermont Sheep and Goat Association.

Spotties have arrived

Prior to May 5, the U.S. did not have any DSS on native soil, but with the help of the U.S. Department of Agriculture opening up imports from the UK, the Rodgers were able to secure eight embryos.

“I saw a picture of one, and thought, ‘Those are cute,’” Mark shared. “It’s funny how things happen when you think something’s cute.”

Mark decided to inquire about the breed and sought out to find one in the U.S. but couldn’t because there were none.

“The more I learned about them in talking to individuals who had them in the UK and Holland, the more I wanted some. They have great maternal instincts, are easy lambing, have good milk production and raise some really good babies,” he said. “They have a superb temperament as well.”

The breed is noted for its tremendous rate of gain on lambs, light bone and large frame, carrying high percentages of lean meat. They are also polled, have a short tail with little or no wool so they don’t need to be docked. They have great feet and legs so they rate very highly in animal welfare traits, Mark explains.

Rodgers, who was committed to seeing the project through, was thrilled in December 2023 when eight DSS embryos made their maiden voyage from the UK to the U.S where they were implanted in his ewes at Tufts Veterinary Field Service in Woodstock, Conn.

“We implanted eight embryos and had seven pregnancies, which is an outstanding result,” Mark said.

One pregnancy was contracted by producers in New Jersey, so MKVT Farms welcomed six lambs, four rams and two ewes.

“The embryos were from two different breedings,” he said. “The sire of two of my lambs and the one in New Jersey is the grand sire of the other four lambs. So, we don’t have a breeding group.”

He continued, “We’ll simply import semen from unrelated rams to breed the ewes that are here and collect semen on the males we have so more people can start a breed-up program. According to folks in the UK, sheep and market lambs from Spotty rams used as a terminal cross bring top dollar at the sale barn. I’ve had a number of people call me looking for a ram.”

“I’ve got one that looks like a Dalmatian, one with coloring more like a Holstein cow and everything in between. I didn’t do this just to introduce another breed to the U.S., I did it because I believe they are a better breed,” he concluded.

Mark is currently contracted with a breeder in Holland to import 100 DSS embryos in December. Another breeder in Northern Ireland is working to produce more embryos for import to the U.S.

Mark is in the process of becoming a registered importer with a U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected semen and embryo import facility.

“We plan to implant 80 to 100 embryos ourselves, and we have a number of other people interested who we are providing embryos for at our cost and providing recipient ewes and implant services to get the breed established in the U.S.,” Mark explains.

MKVT Farm

Mark is no stranger to the ag industry. He is a fifth generation Glover, Vt. farmer descended from the Wylie and Anderson families who immigrated from Scotland in the early 1800s.

Before the establishment of MKVT Farm, Mark graduated from the University of Vermont and took an active role in the dairy industry. He was a McCloy Fellow as an agricultural ambassador to Germany and a Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs dairy advisor in Moldova.

He has served as a board member for the National Dairy Herd Information Association, secretary of the Council of Dairy Cattle Breeders, a committee member for the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council and board chair for both the Dairy Records Management Service and the Lancaster Dairy Herd Improvement Association. 

Mark has been advancing genetic improvements in the dairy industry for decades and was the recipient of the Vermont Dairy Farmer of the Year Award in 1996, the Outstanding Young U.S. Holstein Breeder in 1999, the National Dairy Shrine Progressive Producer and the U.S. Jaycees Outstanding Young Farmer.

Joining Mark’s passion for the ag industry is his wife Karen, who graduated from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts in 2011 with a chef’s diploma and has taken many horticulture courses to complement her gardening passion.

Together the couple run the farm-to-plate MKVT Farm and offer high quality meat, including pasture-raised pork, chicken, lamb, beef and rabbit.

Mark concluded, “We have spent a lot of time providing ag education, teaching farmers better, more efficient ways to farm while helping keep small farms running, the land open and providing quality commodities.” 

Melissa Anderson is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.