Great cheese is made from the ground up, according to Daniel Hales, owner of Prom Country Cheese. And he should know, the fifth-generation dairy farmer is in the enviable position of having two of his products as national finalists in the 2023 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards.

Hales and his partner, Chelsie, took over the business 18 months ago, converting it from sheep’s milk to cow’s milk cheeses.  The certified organic farm runs an extremely low stock rate of just 130-140 cows and the small herd is only milked once a day, whereas most farms would milk them twice a day.

“We don’t milk the cows for the volume of milk, we’re trying to create the best possible milk so we can create best possible cheese,” Hales says. “By milking only once a day, the milk has a higher fat and protein content and less water.” Hales believes animal and soil health are key factors in making good cheese. “We focus pretty heavily on minerals and supplements. The cows eat a lot of seaweed because it has a lot of macro and micronutrients in it,” he says.

“There is also a big emphasis on keeping the soil healthy. Healthy soil equals healthy plants which results in healthy cows and that’s what makes a good product. We don’t have any soil inputs, we have a worm farm for fertiliser and try to have a full closed-loop system. That’s what makes the farm sustainable because you’re not relying on outside inputs to keep the fertility of your farm working.” 

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Hales is clearly onto something, with Prom Country Cheese’s certified organic Granny’s Blue and certified organic raw milk cheese, Glen Moidart, both finalists in the From The Dairy category.  The raw milk cheese industry is still in its infancy in Australia, but Hales believes that converts will never look at a pasteurised product the same way.  “It showcases the quality of the milk a lot better,” he says.

“Raw milk has a lot more diverse flavours in it because of the extra cultures that were in the milk. Pasteurised cheese has about five cultures, raw milk has about 80 from the natural environment.” Hales likens raw milk cheese to terroir in wine – the product is an expression of its environment. “Every batch you make is different – you milk at different times of year, the cows feed on different pastures and there are natural variances in the product,” he says.

“I like the fact that I’m controlling everything from the soil health to the health of the animals to the final product. Being able to do that with raw cheese means you’re expressing the ecosystem on your farm as best as you possibly can.” 

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