Main Ridge Dairy's change of hands has hit the ground running

They expect their 80-strong goat herd will double in size in August, once their does begin to give birth; and owner Sonia Kent expects some ewes will have twins and triplets.

Sonia and Wayne Kent purchased the dairy over a year ago and Ms Kent said they've been just about running ever since.

"I take my hat off to other farmers," Ms Kent said.

"My background is business and animal welfare but this combines so many things into one."

Since purchasing the dairy, she said their main challenge was managing scale, as they operate a closed herd, ensuring goats were regularly tested and remained free of Johnes Disease and Caprine arthritis encephalitis.

"That means we have to reproduce internally. We wouldn't bring a fresh goat onto our farm without having it tested."

It is also a benefit for selling goats to other breeders.

Their current aim is to maximise their milking herd, not by number, but by litres of production; and with a gentle cheese making process they believe is part of the secret to making a premium cheese.

"A milking goat can average anywhere between two and a half to four and a half litres, so we're looking to really improve that by way of animal management and happy goats."

Ms Kent said pasteurisation occurs at low temperatures over long periods of time and is a gentler process on the milk.

"A lot of our milk is gravity fed so it's not aerated and pumped up to big machines, which there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it's just the system we inherited and that's what I loved about it.

"So we have a very gentle process and a lot of our process in the cheesery is by hand; so although it is inefficient, you get a beautiful product."

Main Ridge Dairy's head cheesemaker is 22-year-old Charlotte Ruch, who meticulously produces the award-winning cheeses on-site.

Following the guidance of previous cheesemakers Damien and Bess Noxon, Ms Ruch produces Celia, Capriole, Chevre, Caprinello and Capony, each varying in type from soft to hard cheeses.

She said Celia is a traditional Normandy-style camembert with two different types of mould; also making lactic-style cheeses and a brined cheese.

"Lactic cheeses are a lot more acidic than other cheeses and just set overnight before being hand-ladled," Ms Ruch said.

The brined cheese is placed in a solution of around 12-13 per cent for a minimum of two days before being drained then packaged.

"The semi hard cheeses, our Caprionella needs to be aged for a minimum of three months, and the Capone a minimum of four months, however, can be aged for two to five years.

"The flavour is very complex compared to when its only aged for a short amount of time."

The recent opening of 'Billie's'' Main Ridge Dairy's farm gate focused cafe is managed by Andrew Oudin. Mr Oudin said its establishment has created a great space for customers to see the face of Main Ridge Dairy and get a chance to experience their produce.

"It's where they're able to have food experiences, where they're getting to sample the cheese that we make, and they're also able to experience some other products we have," he said.

Want to read more stories like this?

Sign up below (select Dairy News) to receive our e-newsletter delivered fresh to your email in-box twice a week.