Willapa Hills Farm

A family fromagerie

Starting a cheese making operation requires a certain level of commitment along with a serious business plan and some wiggle room for unanticipated events. When it all comes together and great cheese is being produced, it's worth the work.

Stephen Hueffed and Amy Turnbull had solid careers, his in youth ministry, hers a naturopathic private practice. Years before on a California wine country trip, they had visited estate vineyards/wineries and the idea of growing and making something spoke to them. On a day trip to Port Townsend, they talked about the value of what they were doing. Stephen was working up the ladder, but it put him more out of touch with kids and more in touch with paperwork. Amy was shepherding her practice through the labyrinth of insurance requirements and spending less time treating people. What if they did something different?

They settled on cheese making. Ready to start a family, the idea of raising kids on a farm was appealing. The search for a farm began in earnest. "We knew that if politically, agriculture wasn't considered a prime industry in a county and property development was, it probably wouldn't work to start a small family farm," says Stephen. "We looked at several counties and knew we couldn't afford the property or the required improvements, like bike lanes. The farther you get from a city, the friendlier counties are to farming. We read the Capitol Press, the agricultural newspaper for the Northwest, and found our barn in Doty. The farm had some limitations, but the barn could be adapted and used for both a milking parlor and creamery. We bought the farm in 2005."

Stephen attended a short, intensive course on cheese making at WSU. "It gave me a foundation and framework. Amy took the same course a year-and-a-half later. The course taught us the essentials of cheese making and provided a foundation for food safety in a dairy processing setting. Cheese making can be a simple process, but making good cheese consistently over time is difficult. It's where science and art meet. We've found that farming and cheese making are humbling."

Once they purchased the property and were in too deep to turn back, and amid other challenges, their lending bank failed. So instead of being able to focus full time on the farm and sheep, Stephen commuted from the farm to Seattle for five years. Their 18-month plan took over three years. "Year one, we learned to keep the sheep alive. Year two, we learned how to milk, and year three, we made cheese." Their first batch of cheese for public consumption debuted on July 4, 2008.

Originally, their plan was to make only blue cheese from sheep's milk. Along with the land the purchased, they leased adjacent pasture land across the river, and planned to build a bridge to take the sheep over and back twice a day. Fortunately, they didn't build since the December 2007 flood would have taken it out completely. After their first month on the farm, the cost of feed doubled. "Our economic model had to be reviewed," laughs Stephen. "With limited grazing land, we decided to add cow milk to the mix and started milking a handful of Jersey cows. In the end, we had to decide how much we could realistically do. I was commuting to Seattle, Amy was home with two small children and a new baby, 100 sheep, and six Jersey cows. In the end, the cows had to go." They now work with a family cow dairy nearby whose second-generation owner pasture grazes his herd for six months of the year, contrary to the practice of many confinement dairies in the Northwest.

They also realized they had to make more than blue cheese. Early on, they made a fresh sheep milk lactic-style cheese (similar to a goat milk chevre) with a blue bloomy rind. "It was a unique cheese, but not great for distribution. Unfortunately by the time retail was ready to toss it out as old, it was perfect. We picked cheeses we were excited to make, but found they often weren't the best for retail sales. For financial stability, we had to have both fresh cheese and aged cheese," explains Stephen. "Our product line totally evolved and diversified."

Currently, their products include three blue cheeses, Little Boy Blue, Big Boy Blue, and Two-Faced Blue; Pluvius, a semi-soft cheese; Willapa White, a fresh seasonal sheep milk cheese; a seasonal sheep milk yogurt; natural cream cheese in bulk; Ewe Old Cow, an aged hard cheese, and six artisan natural cream cheese spreads: Blu Cheese, Bacon Blu, Cranberry Blu, Garlic Herb, Honey Chipotle, Red Pepper. They also sell sheep milk to Beecher's for use in their Flagsheep Cheese.

They used to go to about 14 farmers markets; they're now in one or two. Their cheese can be found throughout Washington and Oregon, including Whole Foods, PCC, Market of Choice, Fred Meyer and QFC. Offerings vary by season, company, and location. Their aged cheeses and natural cream cheese can also be found in a number of Northwest restaurants.

Willapa Hills Farm is a fun place to visit, especially after the lambs are born. With notice, you can get a tour of the farm and barn, or just stop in to buy fresh cheese in their store. "The core of our story is that we love what we're doing," says Stephen. "We're out in the country, so we'd like to make visiting even better in the future. We hope to start selling wine soon and have an actual tasting room later on in the lower part of the barn, opening the patio toward the river. We're also planning on getting a minimal-restaurant license that would allow us to offer cheese plates with bread."

Stephen and Amy's dream has taken shape: three kids, great cheese, and lots of future plans. Look for their products in stores or take a leisurely drive to Doty to visit the farm.

Willapa Hills Cheese

Store Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily
Phone: 360-291-3937
www.willapahillscheese.com

Call for directions

Photo: Pluvius

Photos courtesy of Willapa Hills Cheese

Connie Adams/February 2014