Dalbeattle and District Farmers’ Association was formed in 1920 to establish a creamery to handle the milk available in the eastern part of Kirkudbrightshire. Initially there were 140 members and 133 suppliers, The milk was collected once a day by creamery lorries, the members being requested to bring their milk to platforms on main roads.’ They were bound by the rules of the society to sell to it the whole of their output except cheesemakers, for which they were paid monthly on a butterfat basis. Most of this milk and cream was sold to Newcastle and Lancashire industrial districts. A spur from the nearby Dalbeattie linked directly to the creameryStationnearby
Cheese was made with the surplus milk, no butter being made. Skim milk from the cream separation and whey was sold for pig and calf feeding. A number of pigs were fattened at the creamery.
Dalbeattie had competition from a proprietary creamery in the town which eventually went into liquidation.
The society had a retail in shop in Dalbeattie.
In 1955 two 2,500 gallon cheesemaking vats were bought from New Zealand equipped with overhead traversing gears operating spade like stirring paddles – making the creamery one of the larger belonging to the Milk Marketing Board.
The creamery closed in 1974 largely because of the capital cost of necessary building renovation.
