Capital press., June 01, 2018, Page 8, Image 32

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CapitalPress.com
June 1, 2018
Milk does a business good, even without cows
By SUZANNE FRARY
For the Capital Press
Courtesy of Amy Turnbull, Stephen Hueffed
Amy Turnbull and Stephen Hueffed, owners of Willapa Hills
Creamery, make cheese and host events on their farm near
Chehalis, Wash.
CHEHALIS, Wash. — A
Lewis County couple who
make cheese and host events
have adjusted to farming on
property that doesn’t have wa-
ter rights.
Amy Turnbull and Stephen
Hueffed got into the dairy
business in 2005 when they ac-
quired 146 acres on the Cheha-
lis River about 20 miles west of
Interstate 5.
“I knew the farm didn’t have
water rights, but I underesti-
mated the implications of that.
It was one of about 100 things
I should’ve known,” Hueffed
said.
“We didn’t know anything
about anything,” Turnbull
added. “We had steep learning
curves at every front.”
Turnbull and Hueffed have
made a place for themselves in
southwest Washington’s dairy
industry by building a business
that doesn’t depend on milking
cows.
The couple, neither of whom
had a farming background,
grew up in Kitsap and King
counties. A Napa Valley va-
cation touring vineyards gave
them the idea to buy a farm.
They
found
property
through a listing in the Capital
Press and purchased it with a
plan to make cheese and build a
tasting room. Hueffed said they
wanted to try farming while
they were young.
“We asked ourselves, ‘Do
we want to wait until retirement
when we have no energy?’ In
the end, our decision was fami-
ly driven,” he said.
The first of the couple’s
three children was about a year
old when the family moved to
Lewis County.
Turnbull and Hueffed
completed a short course in
cheesemaking at Washington
State University. They built a
creamery on the ground floor of
their barn in 2008. More recent-
ly, they remodeled the barn’s
second floor to host weddings,
concerts and dances.
Turnbull makes cheese two
to three days a week using milk
from neighboring dairies. Other
days she and several employees
package the cheese.
She uses cow and sheep
milk, a combination that allows
her to blend flavors and distin-
guish her cheese from others
on the market. Consistent milk
quality is one reason the farm
buys from nearby dairies.
“When dairies cut corners
on feed, you can tell in the
flavor of the cheese,” Hueffed
said.
Turnbull’s fresh cream
cheese, their biggest seller, and
aged alpine-style cheese are
sold under the Willapa Hills
label in grocery stores such as
Fred Meyer and Whole Foods
in several Western states.
The cheese business has
grown over the years and is
the farm’s main moneymaker.
While Turnbull heads up the
creamery, Hueffed is working
on the couple’s longtime goal
of building a tasting room for
local cheese, wine and food.
The plans have been delayed
by building codes.
His goal is to move the
creamery out of the barn within
the year. Once that happens, the
barn will be dedicated to events
and visitors.
Hueffed has ambitions to
expand activities at the farm,
possibly offering classes, re-
treats and music festivals.
He also wants to increase
his herd of 27 Lowline Angus
cattle, develop the property’s
forest and build a bridge across
the Chehalis River, which runs
through the farm.
“He’s a man of many
dreams,” Turnbull said.
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