Harvey well received at Statewide DIAA Product Competition - Halls Family Dairy make most of unique herd

Harvey had a dairy good showing at a recent Statewide contest, with one of the town’s producers making the most of its unique herd of pure-bred cattle. Winning gold for its washed rind Suzette Cheese at the Dairy Industry Association of Australia WA Dairy Product Competition, Halls Family Dairy has put its herd of Normande cows to good use. The only farm in Australia to house the 100 per cent pure-bred herd, farmer Suzanne Hall said they “keep to tradition” throughout the cheese making process. “We recognised the fact that, with the Normande cows, we had a very special opportunity — we are the only people in Australia that milk a pure-bred herd of Normande cows,” she said. “In France (Normande) milk is used to make this particular style of cheese (Suzette) and that’s why we have kept it traditional. In France it is regulated that you have to milk a herd of 65 per cent Normande to make this cheese, we milk 100 per cent Normande milk, that’s what makes it so special.” In the competition, 194 samples in 46 classes were judged from 20 Western Australian manufacturers. Harvey producers took home six of the 62 gold medals handed out as well as 13 of the competition’s 120 silver medals. Happy with the success of their Suzette, fourth generation farmer Philip Hall said Halls would “probably” make more cheese further down the track but the family’s core business is, at the moment, milking cows. “We don’t want to take over the world, we just want to produce something pretty damn good for WA,” he said. “Our core business is milking cows at the present and that’s what we love doing, but we’re also very proud that we’ve done this (cheese).” Harvey Cheese was also highly successful at the DIAA WA Product Awards, winning five gold medals for its white mould ripened Ash Blonde, Pepper Romano-flavoured firm, Halloumi and Mediterranean marinated Feta cheeses as well as its Chive and Garlic butter. Harvey Cheese collected a further 13 silver medals for its white and blue mould rind and ripened cheeses, Feta cheeses, Swiss cheeses and butter.