Located in the stunningly beautiful Dorrigo Plateau on New South Wales mid-north coast, Steve and Michelle know a thing or two about producing top quality beef. As a fourth generation farmer, Steve uses his extensive knowledge of his family property and expertise in shorthorn cattle, developed over 25 years of breeding, to ensure his Shorthorns are nothing short of exceptional. For both Steve and Michelle, farming is very much a family affair.
As the oldest cattle breed in Australia and one of the oldest breeds in the world, the Eungella Shorthorn was brought over to Australia from England with the First Fleet. Steve and Michelle spend a significant amount of time and money researching the genetics of their Shorthorn stud in order to ensure they are producing the absolute best quality meat possible. In fact, the genetics within their Eungella Shorthorn stud are so renowned that other beef farmers pay big money to use its genetics for their own farms. Clearly, Steve and Michelle are on to something pretty special!
For Steve and Michelle, everything they do is based around providing the best meat quality possible for their customers. This includes ensuring their cattle are purely grass fed with no supplementary grain feeding and maintaining only the highest standards on their farm to promote their cattles’ longevity.
With so much experience in breeding Shorthorn cattle behind him, Steve explains why eating their steak is so enjoyable, tasty and, literally, ‘a cut above the rest’; “they retain a lot of intermuscular fat, which is marbling and gives the steaks that lovely texture and taste that people are after.”
However, running such a first-rate property always has its challenges. For Michelle, helping Steve on the farm whilst raising three kids, running the house and taking part in everything from family BBQs to playing with ‘Barbies’ earns her the well-deserved title of ‘Super Mum’! Knowing that partnering with a business like Our Cow is doing so much to further not just her family’s future on the farm, but the future of ethical farming in general, also makes a huge difference.
In typical Aussie fashion, Steve and Michelle are incredibly supportive of Our Cow’s business and its longevity into the future because they know how important and rewarding working within the Our Cow philosophy is. “It’s a pretty exciting thing really. I think it’s a fantastic job that Our Cow is doing and I hope it expands and keeps going so more cattle can go through it and more Aussie farmers like us can support it. I think this paddock to plate idea through Our Cow can really show the good side of farming”.
For Steve and Michelle, Our Cow’s passion for the paddock to plate philosophy is synonymous with their own vision for their family’s farm, and farming in general. “It’s just a whole concept of doing something that’s from family owned farms right through to your door, in one; one box, one plate. It’s all Aussie, it’s good people”, says Steve.
Not only that, but Michelle believes that buying meat through a business like Our Cow is the best thing you could do for your family. It encourages kids to learn about the process behind where meat comes from before it appears on the table at dinnertime, the importance of ethically-sourced meat and what exceptional quality actually looks and tastes like. Best of all, you don’t even have to go out to a restaurant to eat such high quality meat; it’s there, on your table and ready for family dinner!
On top of that, buying Eungella Shorthorn beef guarantees you and your family a prime product. “It’s the best of the best…you can actually stay at home and feed your kids ethically grown beef, and know you’re eating the best”, says Michelle.
Ultimately, Steve and Michelle love working with Our Cow because it allows them to continue building their family-run, Aussie business whilst producing an exceptional quality product that their kids can be proud of. When talking about people tasting their beef, Steve simply says; “We want someone who has our steak to say, “damn, that’s a good steak! Where did that steak come from?”.
With such a proud and experienced history in producing nothing but the best, we can proudly put hand on heart and guarantee that Steve and Michelle’s Eungella Shorthorn beef is worth a try! Discover some for yourself when you Build your own Box!
Recipe: Hayden Quinn's Eye Fillet Steak with Creamy Spinach & Sorell "Salad"
Hayden Quinn recently visited Steve & Michelle's farm and cooked up a gorgeous eye fillet steak from their property while he was there filming Season 6 of Taste of Australia with Hayden Quinn.
Look so good you want to give it a try for yourself? Hayden's Eye Fillet with Creamy Spinach & Sorell "Salad" recipe is available right here for you to try , on our Recipes Page.
