FIFTEEN years ago, Bruce and Elisabeth Cuming were facing tough times.
The Glenthompson prime lamb farmers were struggling as lamb and wool prices headed south.
"We had to do something. We had seven kids and a gaping financial hole," Elisabeth said.
"But it had come from what we already had. We didn't have the money to invest in anything new."
The Cumings realised their ewes could offer up a new commodity - milk. They did research and uncovered a major world market for cheese and yoghurt made from sheep milk, based primarily in Europe.
"The first thing was to look for a local market and we found some small cheese makers in Melbourne with links to the Greek and Italian communities," Elisabeth said.
The Cumings started with a bucket milker, after a couple of years bought a goat-milking plant with a refrigerated vat, and eventually put in headstalls.
They realised there wasn't much money in milk, so they expanded into making yoghurt.
They pasteurised their first yoghurt in a bucket in a copper and used hand-written labels. Now their Grampians Pure Sheep Dairy boasts a 19-sheep herringbone milker and a factory with a pasteurising facility that turns out more than 60-dozen 375-millilitre containers of yoghurt a fortnight.
They employ local people and offer tastings and sales for tourists.
"It's created cash flow, been fantastic for the family and helped maintain the profile of the local region," Bruce said. But it's also hard work - sheep have to be milked every day - and there are some hefty bills.
And transport's also been a headache.
The Cumings are one of a handful of dairy sheep farmers in Australia. The industry, estimated to involve 4000 sheep, produces about 500,000 litres of milk and sheep milk products worth about $4 million at the farm gate.
