Halls Family Dairy welcome purebred Normande calf Odette to their dairy farm

A family-run dairy farm in the South West has welcomed a new Normande calf to their herd.

Halls Family Dairy, who specialise in producing artisan cheese, claim to be the only dairy farmers in Australia to have a pure bred herd of Normande cows — a unique breed of cattle from the north-west of France.

Farm operators Phillip and Suzanne Hall welcomed their newest calf to the family earlier this month, a little heifer named Odette.

“She’s a pure bred Normande heifer, which is a French breed,”Ms Hall said.

“They’re used to make cheese — camembert and a couple of other different varieties.”

The family dairy farm hosts seven breeds of cows — with the 10 Normande cows the most prized assets.

After collecting hundreds of litres of milk each week, the product is sent a short distance up the road to become some of many cheeses produced at Harvey Cheese — a partnership of two families committed to strengthening the local Harvey community.

“We make two cheeses called Halls Suzette and Fifi Camembert,” Ms Hall said.

“So this little girl will grow up to be a Normande cow to be milked to make our cheese.”