Visitors explore Harvey dairy production from paddock to cheeseboard as part of Lost and Found Festival

Agricultural tourists were invited to explore dairy production from paddock to cheeseboard at Halls Family Dairy and Harvey Cheese at the weekend as the Lost and Found Festival took place across the South West.

The festival ran from Friday to Sunday, with events highlighting the best experiences to lose yourself in around the region

In Harvey, the gates of the Halls Family Dairy were swung open as the fourth-generation dairy farmers invited the public into their milking shed, getting to see first-hand the country’s oldest herd of Normande cattle getting milked.

Farm owner Phillip Hall said he was always happy to take interested people through his farm, highlighting primary production methods.

The family dairy farm hosts seven breeds of cows, with the Normande cattle being the standout. During the tour Suzane Hall told visitors the French referred to these cattle as cheese cows due to their unique milk.

After collecting hundreds of litres of milk each week, the product is sent just a short distance up the road to become some of many cheeses produced at Harvey Cheese.

Mr Hall said understanding the processes of primary production was vital.

“Every year we’re losing primary producers, so to be able to explain to people what primary producers do, it’s pretty important.,” he said.

Once all the cows were milked, the tour ventured from the milking shed to the modern world of artisan cheese making.

Gathering at Harvey Cheese, the participants were told about the various cheeses produced at the factory.

Harvey Cheese owner Peter Lottering said when making cheese, only 10 per cent of the dairy supplied is made into cheese in the end, with the other 90 per cent turned into whey.

He said whey was often a waste product, used as fertiliser or disposed of, but at Harvey Cheese it is fermented into alcohol and used in the production for a range of gins at St Duke’s Distillery.

The tour was then treated to some of those gins — from their traditional Australian dry to a vibrant and fruity pink.

Mr Lottering said the Lost and Found Festival allowed them to bring more awareness to their work and their producers, like the Halls.

“We are working really close with them to bring a bit more awareness,” he said.

“Not just to the dairy industry, but all the farms, and how important they are,” he said.