Northern Rivers’ local legend Snow “Snowy” Ellis is as ‘true blue Aussie’ as you can possibly get. At over 90 years old, Snowy has been on the land his whole life and is a true character; a humble, cheeky and hard-working farmer who occupies a special place in the hearts of Our Cow Founders Dave and Bianca.
When you picture an Aussie farmer, that’s Snowy. Not only is he still happily farming his top quality cows, Snowy also continues to share his incredible expertise in water divination to help several other farms stay afloat during the recent drought. It would be hard to find someone more passionate about farming and its future than Snowy.
Having worked the land for over 70 years, longer than most of us have been alive, Snowy knows a thing or two about producing top quality beef. As independent as always, Snowy continues to breed his own top quality cows and fattens them up on rich oats and only the best ryegrass pasture, resulting in super tender and juicy beef for his customers.
Our Cow Founder Bianca describes Snowy as being “super passionate about his cattle being in a luscious green paddock. He just wants heaps of feed around them, that’s his passion and that’s what he loves to do”.
As if he wasn’t already busy enough working his cattle every day, moving fences and checking on his property (pretty good for an ‘old bloke’!), Snowy also continues to use his expert water divination skills for the benefit of his farming neighbours. Having divined most of the town water on the north coast and throughout hundreds of farms in New South Wales and Queensland throughout his lifetime, Snowy played an essential role during the recent drought. With typical Aussie humility, Snowy was responsible for preventing many of his fellow farmers from going under as a result of the crippling drought by helping find water on numerous properties. It’s easy to see why Snowy is such a well-loved local legend.
Closer to home, Our Cow Founders Dave and Bianca enjoy a really special and enduring relationship with Snowy. A real ‘Aussie battler’, Snowy loves nothing more than showing Dave and Bianca around his farm, describing his cattle and proudly showing off his thriving paddocks. In typical low-key Snowy-style, he can’t understand why Bianca would want a photo of him with his cattle; “who would be interested in seeing a photo of me- it’s about my cattle!” says a bemused Snowy. Explaining that Our Cow is all about putting a face behind the meat for their customers, Snowy is all admiration. “He still can’t believe that his beef from Fairly Hill is now feeding families across Australia”, says Bianca.
Despite such changes in the methods used to sell his much-loved beef throughout his lifetime, Snowy is remarkably forward-thinking and supportive of what Our Cow is doing for their current and future customers, and the future of farming in Australia. “Snowy loves Our Cow and he’s really happy that we can provide some stability not only to him, but to the future farmers that are coming up. He loves knowing that; that there’s a future in farming for people that are coming in after him”, says Bianca.
And it’s not just down to his top quality beef that Dave and Bianca love working with Snowy. They always look forward to his weekly ‘drop ins’ to buy dog bones, have a yarn and share his cheeky sense of humour with the Our Cow team. Always quick to make people smile, Snowy has been somewhat of an inspiration to Our Cow Founder Dave, with his upbeat, hard-working personality clearly making an impact. “Snowy is one of the most humble people I’ve ever met. He’s got so many skills with water divining and he’s helped so many farmers with the recent drought by finding bores and underground wells and water for them to survive. We’re really proud to be working with Snowy; he’s more humble than he should be with the skills he has and the things that he’s achieved in his life”.
Dave and Bianca also love visiting Snowy on his farm, where it’s not just the superior cattle and luscious paddocks that appeal. Snowy’s daughter Narelle always has the kettle on when they visit for a cup of tea, and being able to lend a hand here or there to help Snowy out goes a long way.
It’s working with farmers like Snowy that really encapsulates what Our Cow is all about. When you buy your meat from Our Cow, what comes from Snowy’s paddock literally goes straight to your plate, meaning Snowy is able to continue doing what he loves well into his 90s, whilst continuing to help his community and enjoy a good old chat every week with the Our Cow team. In return, his customers know they are getting the best quality black angus beef possible, lovingly bred and cared for by an authentic, cheeky, ‘true blue’ Aussie farmer.
“When you buy from Our Cow you support farmers like Snowy”, says Dave. Sounds like yet another great reason to try Snowy’s delicious, top-quality beef - give it a try in your next meat delivery.
