Who is CowBank?
CowBank is built on relationships. Founded by dairy people, for dairy people, our team combines hands-on farming experience with financial expertise to help farmers grow their businesses. From herd leasing to strategic advice, we’ve spent decades working alongside Australia’s dairy industry.
we know success starts with the right support.
Rod Banks – Founder & Managing Director, CowBank
There’s nothing that makes Rod happier than watching dairy farmers grow their equity.
Working with farmers across the country from the start of their business, spending time with them on-farm and then even revisiting these relationships, sometimes decades later.
Spend any time chatting with the founder of CowBank, and you are bound to hear stories of success, anonymous - of course - but it's hard not to be inspired.
Rod’s passion for dairy farmer profitability and success is infectious.
He understands what it takes to make milk production work and this admiration comes from a place of knowing.
That’s because Rod has been there.
He too was once at the start of a sharefarming career and needed cattle.
In fact, it was his difficulty securing finance for a dairy herd that inspired the formation of CowBank.
Rod figured, if securing the support of a traditional financial institution was difficult for him, surely others were up against the same challenge.
This was nearly 30 years ago when Rod had just returned from a role as the General Manager of Operations at King Island Dairies in Tasmania. This job had evolved from running corporate farms on the Island - milking 1800 cows in the mid-90s - as well as livestock operations at Moree in NSW and in New Zealand.
Thanks to real-world experience and formal business qualifications, Rod understands the inherent value of working with and empowering capable people.
Relationships were the foundation of CowBank and nothing has changed.
And just in case anyone was wondering - Rod never went sharefarming.
The advertisement he placed after his own herd financing struggles attracted 80 phone calls from dairy farmers within a week.
They all wanted herd leasing options.
Working with competent farmers has kept him pretty busy since.
When Rod isn’t driving around the country visiting dairy farmers, you’ll find him on his little property in northern Victoria, cycling anywhere in the world or running community events with his local Rotary Club. Rod’s wife Meredith is an infant mental health practitioner, most recently working with disadvantaged children to prepare them for education. Their children are spread throughout the globe with careers ranging from information technology and jewellery design, to bag manufacturing.
Kate Rivington - Administration
THE one constant in Kate’s CowBank day-to-day is change.
But the Administration Manger is used to variety.
Outside of her role completing data entry, client management and legal documentation preparation for dairy farmers, Kate spends her time focusing on 19th Century British and US history,
In fact, she has a PhD in the subject.
The contrast between her two worlds is something Kate relishes.
She enjoys getting out on-farm with CowBank clients - in the “real world” - scrolling through production data and learning more about the dairy industry as well as the business of making milk.
Working with CowBank since 2012, Kate has worn many hats through the evolution of the business. But it’s the “chats” with clients that she looks forward to most - even the banter - about her as the “city girl”.
Outside her “two lives” of work, Kate has two cats - Binx and Lola - her little “salt and pepper troublemakers” is a huge fan of brunch, and loves spending time at the beach.