Humans of Agriculture "We started with one steer": how David McGiveron and Bianca Tarrant built mega meat biz Our Cow
An 'overnight success' is often many years in the making and that's certainly the case for the Our Cow empire.
Husband and wife duo Dave McGiveron and Bianca Tarrant scraped together a deposit to buy a small cattle property in 2019 and fulfill their dream of being 'mad weaner producers'.
With just one steer to their name, they launched a direct-to-consumer meat business which soon exploded into a meat subscription powerhouse turning over more than $40 million a year.
But it hasn't been without sacrifice, failure and some hair-raising stories of tackling challenges head-on.
Hear what it takes to build Our Cow with two people determined to tighten the connection between consumers and the producers of their food.
takeaways
- Transitioning from mining to farming requires significant lifestyle changes and sacrifice
- Drought taught valuable lessons about resilience and mindset
- Business coaching helped shift their perspective from victim to controller
- Innovating during crises can lead to new business opportunities
- The subscription meat model provided stability and growth
- Crowdfunding engaged the community and provided necessary capital to scale up operations
chapters
00:00 Introduction and Exploring the Dynamics of a Husband and Wife Partnership in Farming
08:56 The Journey to Owning a Farm
14:22 Facing Challenges: Drought and Mental Resilience
17:15 Innovating Through Crisis: The Birth of a New Business Model
27:49 Navigating Growth: Challenges and Opportunities
30:29 COVID-19: A Catalyst for Change
36:54 The Subscription Model: A Lifeline for Survival
42:00 Crowdfunding: Engaging the Community
Check out the meat subscriptions on offer at Our Cow - we think anyone directly supporting Aussie farmers deserves a plug!
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EvokeAG 2026:
I'm excited to be one of the MC's for evokeAG in 2026. This event is unlike any other in Aussie agriculture and brings together the brightest minds from across the AgriFood ecosystem focused on solutions to some of our planets biggest challenges. Get your tickets at evokeAG.com