When we first met Greg Billing in 2020, he'd gone from strength to strength producing some of the finest Angus Beef in the Dorrigo, NSW area we'd ever seen. From his prestigious farming operation, sustainable farming practices, and the utmost care and attention he showed his animals, we assumed he'd been farming beef cattle his whole life.
Little did we know, Greg had only recently started farming beef cattle. Previous to this, Greg spent over 50 years as a renowned potato and dairy farmer in the area, growing his business to over 700 dairy cows at one stage while maintaining a huge potato enterprise.
"I've always been passionate about growing things"
Greg first dabbled in farming at the tender age of 12, when he started growing vegetables for the local market on his parents farm on Billings Road in Dorrigo.
Just three years later, Greg was growing potatoes as a serious enterprise while still attending high school. On finishing Year 12, Greg's father wanted him to stay on and work the family farm, but having decided dairy farming wasn't going to be his future career, Greg went into contract potato farming instead, continuing his hard work from his schooling years.
In the late '70s, Greg bought the farm next door to his parents, and continued growing and expanding his potato farm, as well as dabbling in some cattle farming at this time. His potato farming operation continued growing, and in order to buy fresh potato ground and continue the success of his business, Greg and his wife started dairy farming in the mid 1980's to improve cash flow.
Despite originally starting dairy farming as a means of expanding his potato farm, Greg was so successful in his dairy business that at one stage he was milking over 700 cows, all while growing potatoes.
From potatoes, to dairy, to beef
After a long and hugely successful career, Greg decided to retire from potatoes in 2017, and closed his dairy in March 2020. At this point, Greg decided it was time for a change - so he turned his beautiful lush property over to beef and began farming Angus Beef for the first time!
Greg's hugely passionate about growing things, especially pastures and ensuring an all natural and healthy environment for his cattle. He admits changing from dairy pasture to beef was a huge learning curve for him, but one he is immensely proud of.
"I wanted to be all grass fed, with no grain supplements, so learning what grasses were most beneficial for gut health and weight gain in beef, instead of milk production, was a steep learning curve but very necessary,"" Greg says.
Being located in the Mid North Coast area of NSW, Dorrigo doesn't typically suffer from harsh drought conditions like most other areas, so, teamed with a strong pasture base and the ability to reduce the number of cattle when necessary, Greg was able to come through the worst of the drought with plenty of healthy animals.
Why Our Cow
Greg loves producing all natural, grass fed and finished Angus beef for Our Cow, because of the individual and personal connection supplying to our customers provides, that's just not possible within the traditional meat and livestock industry in Australia.
Greg is a passionate supporter of the direct-to-consumer paddock to plate process, and a huge advocate for Our Cow's mission to make a change in the food industry in Australia. He loves that he can get personal feedback about his products, and continually improve to produce the best quality meat our customers' love.
We love working with Greg, and we know our customers agree his Angus beef products are some of the best they've ever had!
You can try some of Greg's top notch, grass fed and finished beef in your next order.
