The Big Cow was built in the 1970s to attract tourists to a working dairy farm on the Sunshine Coast. It is one of the many Australian Big Things and was sculpted by Hugh Anderson, who also sculpted the Big Bulls in Rockhampton.

The Big Cow is seven times the size of an Ayrshire cow on which it is modeled. It is made of concrete and was described as “able to withstand a cyclone”. After the dairy farm closed, the Big Cow remained on the property which was used for a variety of purposes.

In March 2016, the Big Cow was reported as “closed and fallen into disrepair. Proprietors of Maritime Career Training, Barry and Margaret Barnes who had become owners of the property on which it stood, donated the Big Cow to Highfields Pioneer Village in 2019.

On the 10th of January 2020, the Big Cow was moooved to Highfields thanks to startup funding from Clive Berghofer and the generous assistance of Universal Cranes, George’s Loader Hire, Chetty’s Excavations, Doug’s Shade Sheds and Sugden Cranes.

Due to it’s massive size the cow had to be cut into two pieces.  A crane has recently been used to bring the two halves together. Funding is required to enable volunteers to  restore the cow to her former glory with new concrete footings, security fencing and a dairying interpretation centre for visitors.  All donations would be appreciated at  https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-big-cow
Below Progress during the Big Cow reassembly, watched over by Clive Berghofer OAM and Manager of Highfields Pioneer Village, Ray Ashford OAM