Agriculture is the principal activity in the parish, due to its fertile soils, producing a wide variety of grains and vegetables (such as wheat, rye, barley and pumpkins). Sugar cane, flax seed, and tea have all contributed to the economy of the parish, even cultivating tobacco until recently. Over the centuries, these activities have also included herding and the dairy industry, as well as ancillary services associated with these activities, including cheese and butter production associated with the islands' base industry. Although local production was common, these industries were subsistence, while high-volume production was handled by the islands' remaining export companies, such as CALF "Cooperativa Agrícola dos Lactícinios do Faial" and Martins & Rebello. At the beginning of 2012, two local entrepreneurs established the "Queijaria O Morro" that began to produce a local artesnal "fresh" cheese.