It is worth eight to ten times the price of cow milk, but there are still only a handful of Australian farmers producing sheep milk.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 10 minutes 27 seconds 10 m Sheep cheese export opportunity from Nannup, WA ( Bridget Fitzgerald ) Download 4.8 MB

West Australian sheep dairy operator Bruce Wilde said he had operated for more than a decade and was still only one of less than a dozen sheep milk producers nationally.

Mr Wilde and his wife Jane run a sheep dairy and cheese making business in Nannup, in the south-west region of Western Australia.

At peak production, the farm milks about 160 sheep and produces approximately two litres from each ewe a day.

Mr Wilde said while he had sufficient demand for his product, freight costs stood in the way of interstate export.

He said the freight was often too expensive and not suitable for smaller producers.

"The problem with interstate is getting it across," he said.

"For me to post one 10 kilogram wheel of cheese via Australia Post, it will cost $180.

"Unless you're making enough to send pallet loads across, it's very difficult."

But Mr Wilde said growing demand for sheep cheese in Asian markets could provide an export opportunity.

He said he was considering sending his product into Singapore through a wholesaler, alongside other produce from the region.

"It's an Australian gentleman who sells top end products [so] if we can get in there that will be good," Mr Wilde said.

He said visits from international tourists had also helped provide a platform for his product.

"The Chinese and the Japanese eat a fair bit of cheese — moreso than the other Asian countries," he said.

"There's a lot of interest from them."

A ewe stands next in line on a milking platform at a sheep dairy in Nannup, Western Australia. ( Bridget Fitzgerald )

Small industry lacks research and development

Mr Wilde said the sheep dairy industry lacked access to research and development because it was so small.

He said there were many challenges in getting the right information about even basic elements of sheep milk production, like breeds and technology.

Mr Wilde started the milk production side of his business with the purchase of two ewes and a ram in 1997.

But he said he had semen collected from the ram at four months old as a "bit of insurance".

"Down the track we have bough other rams in, but we can go back to his semen base again," he said.

Mr Wilde said the key issue with information was that there was no database available to producers.

"In the dairy industry you can look up a database. That will give you volumes and the different traits that bulls show," he said.

"There's nothing available in this country for sheep."

Mr Wilde said many producers accessed information from Europe.

'Paddock to plate' trend boosts sheep cheese business

Tom Wilde makes cheese on the family property for his parents.

He said the reputation of their cheese "thrived" on the "paddock plate status".

"We know every part of the process was controlled by ourselves," he said.

"And you can also buy it straight out of the farm shop."

Mr Wilde said the farm was a bit out of the way from the key Margaret River tourist region.

"We lose out a bit in that respect," he said.

"If we can get more people to come out to the farm and see where it's made, it would be great."

But he said the farm did attract repeat customers.

The family produces several varieties of cheese, from matured hard cheeses to soft cheeses and fetta.

Tom said the process meant it could be difficult to determine quality because it could take a year before a hard cheese was ready for consumption.

He said the weather conditions could also affect the taste and quality of the cheese.

"Personally, the best hard cheese is made in the summer when the grass is dry," Tom said.

"It makes more of a rich, nutty hard cheese."