33 / 80
Better Farming
November 2017
The Business of
Ontario Agriculture
33
FIELD TRIP
Nestled in the Slate River Valley in
the shadow of the Nor’Wester
Mountain range, roughly 12 miles (20
km) south of Thunder Bay, brothers
Walter and Martin Schep continue a
tradition of farming and cheese-
making that originated with their
maternal grandmother in Holland.
Walter and Martin’s grandmother
made gouda cheese. Now, the broth-
ers carry on that tradition through
Thunder Oak Cheese and Thunder
Oak Farm, with regular help from
their parents Jacob and Margaret.
“We still use my grandmother’s
recipe,” says Walter. “With a few
tweaks along the way.”
In 1995, Jacob had the idea of
making gouda cheese right on the
family farm. At the time, the family
was limited in the amount of milk
they could ship in the quota system
and any over-production went to
waste.
Eventually, with the approval of
the Dairy Farmers of Ontario and the
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs, Jacob started
to produce gouda cheese and Marga-
ret sold it directly from the family
farm.
“In Holland, everyone made
cheese in the summer,” says Jacob.
The cheese production eventually
became part of succession planning
for the Scheps. When Walter and
Martin were planning their careers,
they had a choice between adding
quota or expanding the cheese
production. The brothers opted for
the cheese production.
In 2007, Walter and Martin took
over the operation from their parents
and split it into two: Martin produces
the milk through Thunder Oak Farm
and Walter manages the cheese
production through Thunder Oak
Cheese. The retail facility operates
under the name Thunder Oak Cheese
Farm.
In 2013, Walter built a new
6,500-square-foot (604-square-metre)
building where the family makes
gouda. The new building is about a
mile (1.5 km) from the Schep farm.
Half of what the family produces is
sold directly from their own retail
outlet. Thunder Oak also sells its
Employee Irene Muller cuts gouda to be sold
in the Thunder Oak Cheese Farm retail outlet.