Our Cow founder Bianca Tarrant nominated for 2022 Shine Awards

See how Our Cow founder and Shine Awards nominee Bianca overcame the “culture shock” of life on the land to found an innovative and successful beef operation.

Bianca Tarrant is a nominee in The Weekly Times Shine Awards, supported by Harvey Norman. If you know a rural woman who deserves recognition, nominate her in the form below and learn more about the Shine Awards here.

Originally a self-confessed “beach girl” from Port Macquarie NSW, beef producer Bianca Tarrant jumped into farming when she was just 23 years old, and it was literally a baptism of fire.

She and her partner Dave McGiveron bought a cattle property at Baryulgil, in northeast NSW, in 2017.

Bianca and Dave on their NSW property.

It was a good year, but seasonal conditions quickly deteriorated, with the young couple facing drought, bushfires and floods in their first five years on the farm.

Bianca, now 29, found off-farm jobs doing fencing and mowing lawns to support their cattle operation during the desperately dry times.

Like many producers in their part of northeast NSW during the drought, Bianca and Dave struggled to feed their stock, then had to contend with the added stress of not knowing what they would eventually be paid for the cattle.

“I’ve not been part of the farming industry my whole life, so it was a bit of a culture shock to come into the livestock industry,” Bianca said. “That was the way it was, you took your cattle to the market and were a price-taker.

Bianca on the quad bike with her daughters Siena and Scarlett. Picture: Clayton Lloyd

“I had trouble comprehending we would work so long and so hard for an animal and we had no idea what we would get paid for it.”

That insecurity prompted Bianca to find a way to set her own price.

She started selling some of their own beef directly to consumers through social media, and the small foray into online sales evolved into Our Cow, a meat delivery subscription business Bianca launched in 2019.

The business has grown quickly, and is now supplied by about 100 farming families, offering beef, pork, lamb and chicken for delivery nationwide.

“Demand was so strong we were able to on-board other farmers really quickly,” Bianca said.

“The growth has been unbelievable.”

Livestock are consigned to Our Cow in farmers’ paddocks, and are processed at abattoirs closest to producers, with the majority sent through Casino where Our Cow has a boning room employing 40 people.

“(Our cattle) are a small drop in the ocean of Our Cow now,” Bianca said.

“Still it is good to be able to guarantee us a price, and do the same for other farmers as well.”