When it’s your birthday – a company will usually use the opportunity to stand up and talk about themselves – who we are and what our mission is. On our 5th birthday we decided to do things, like we always have, a little differently. 

The founders and team at Provenir are proud of our achievements but we are nothing without our farmers. We were started by one farmer, Chris, and he knows full well that we are nothing without our farmer partners. So today, we want to take the time to celebrate the real stars of Provenir, our amazing farming partners who have embraced our vision because it matches their own – ethical, sustainable, top quality livestock. 

There are 70 farmers who have partnered with Provenir over the last 5 years. Each brings a level of dedication to their animals, and their land, that makes them a step above the rest. They are the ones we were looking for when we started the business, and they are a diverse bunch but one with a single mindset. 

Meet Willowmaiven farmers, Jo and John Lambert

Ones like John and Jo Lambert from Willowmavin. Located at Molyullah near Benalla in Victoria.  Jo and John, together with their children Alex (12 years) and Tom (10 years) love the farming lifestyle.

“When we first started farming we used a mobile butcher to process a steer for us to eat on the farm. The last thing the steer knew was how tasty his mouth full of grass was, he was happy on his farm and connected with his herd.  The meat was delicious, better than any beef we had ever tasted!  We did some research and found that this wasn’t just our own bias influencing our tastebuds, low stress animals really do make for tender meat. We thought how wonderful it would be if this could happen on a commercial scale. It would tick all boxes in our mind – the animals wouldn’t have the stressful experience of leaving a farm on a truck on their way to an abattoir to go through processing and anyone could enjoy such fantastic tender meat.  Win-win!” – Jo Lambert

The Lambert family love living on the farm and appreciate the space, the quiet and fresh air a farm brings to their lives.  Farming allows them to feel more connected to the land and the seasons. They enjoy their animals; working with the cows, letting the chooks out for a scratch, checking the bee hives, feeding the guinea pigs and running the dogs.  The family keep two milking cows and are looking forward to the adventure of producing their own milk once the young heifers start to produce milk, hopefully next year. 

And of course there is Pardoo in the iconic Otway Forest, where farming and the natural bushland co-exist in beautiful harmony.

Pardoo takes their land and water management very seriously with multiple measures in place to ensure that not only the animals are kept in good health but also the soil, natural flora and local creeks are protected and maintained. Currently they are redesigning their BioFert plant, with past projects having them focused on planting out the last unprotected creek areas.

“Pardoo is all about making sure that their cattle’s lives are stress free and saw Provenir as a way to help ensure and maintain that crucial aspect all the way up until their final day.” Matt

The Pardoo farm and their team utilise Low-stress animal handling techniques when managing the cattle to ensure that the animals are not exposed to high stress environments that would be detrimental to their health. The cattle graze on a multi species pasture for better nutrition and health standards. Pardoo also grows fodder crops along with crops for hay, silage and haylage production.

These are just two of our farmers, and each brings a unique history and experience in building their operation, but they are all Provenir farmers because they each hold the same belief – exceptional quality meat through small-batch and ethical on-farm processing of grass-fed beef direct from the farm. 

Happy birthday team, and here’s to many more to come.