Harvey Farrington was a native of New York state who migrated to Oxford County, Ontario, where he became the founder of the cheese industry in Canada.

Having mastered the art of cheese making in his native state, Mr. Farrington moved to the Norwich area in 1863 where he established the first cheese factory in this country. In the year following, the total output of his factory was about 10 tons, all of which was shipped to a cheese broker in Great Britain. Thus he became the first man to ship cheese from Canada to the old country and the pioneer in an export field which was destined to grow and develop.

During his early years in cheese production, he strongly urged the formation of an organization of dairy producers. By 1867 his urgings were translated into action with the formation of the Western Ontario Dairyman’s Association.

It has been said of him that he promoted new ideas in agriculture with the zeal of a missionary. One of the ideas, which he promoted successfully, resulted in specialists being appointed to assist cheese makers in improving the quality of their product.