image courtesy Katie Joy's Free-range Eggs
Paying the Price for Free-Range
The world of free-range can be a fickle place. Animal-loving
customers yearn to embrace it, yet their definition of what constitutes ‘free-range’
is often vastly different to the stance taken by politicians, producers and supermarkets.
Take eggs, for example. National free-range egg laws currently don’t exist in
Australia. In Western Australia, Greens
MP Lynne MacLaren is fighting to re-introduce her Free-Range Labelling Bill (originally
introduced in 2013) to the Senate this year. Over east, the NSW Fair Trading
Minister, Matthew Mason-Cox, is due to have a draft national standard for
free-range considered, apparently at the next Minister’s forum in April. The
slow wheels of bureaucracy and the cut and thrust of profit margins can often
get in the way of what the customer wants, and what is best for the animal.
Most people who buy free-range eggs pay a premium,
envisaging happy hens pecking their way across lush green fields. After all, that’s
what it shows on the packaging, right? In
reality, when it comes to free-range eggs (particularly those sold by supermarket
chains), it is a veritable minefield for the consumer. Coles has a
recommendation for their free-range eggs of 10,000 hens per hectare – anything
smaller, they say, is commercially unviable.
The recommendation by the CSIRO and animal welfare groups for stocking
densities is 1,500 birds per hectare. Western Australia’s largest ‘free-range’
egg producer, Snowdale Holdings (which runs Swan Valley Egg Farm and Eggs by
Ellah), is currently locked in a court battle with the ACCC amidst allegations
of falsely labelling its eggs free-range. The case is due to be heard in the
Federal Court this April.
All is not lost, however. There are plenty of dedicated, hardworking
producers out there who are passionate about free-range, with Margaret River
Free-range Eggs being one of them. Its feisty owner, Jan Harwood, is chairwoman
of the Free-range Egg Association.
“In Australia, the Australian Egg Corporation Limited and
larger supermarkets have said that the free-range standards we used to operate
under aren’t sustainable anymore, and we can’t produce enough eggs for the
growing free-range market. Well, you can, because they’re doing it overseas on
the same standards,” says Jan.
“They are producing enough eggs because they’re doing it
slowly and organically. If countries like England and Denmark, who have less
space than us, can do it on 1,500 hens per hectare, then why can’t we? It’s all
about price manipulation.
“So this is where it gets down to cheap food. If you want to
produce a free-range egg at the same price as a caged egg, then something’s got
to give. Happily, these days people are walking the talk, and are starting to
understand that good food costs more money.”
When
it comes to local free-range chicken, it’s hard to go past Mt Barker. The company
juggernaut, based in the Great Southern, has eight farms that are run by either
Mt Barker Chicken or local farmers, with each farm containing several chicken
coops that have a central point for eating and drinking. The number of birds
vary, but according to Graham Laitt, the managing director of Mt Barker’s
umbrella company, Milne Agrigroup, their newest farm at Fox River has around
20,000 birds at any one time.
“Most
of our farms are part of diverse family farming operations, so the area
available to the MBC farms is not limited. The coops are up to two hundred
metres apart, providing the largest free-range area of any farms in Western
Australia.,” says Graham..
“The number of birds per farm
varies widely. It very much depends on the layout and facilities on the farm,
as well as the management available.”
According
to Graham, once the hens are feathered (at around twenty-one days old), they
leave the coops to range outside all day until they are brought in at night to
protect them from foxes. The farms aren’t open to the public, but chicken
webcams will soon be set up at their Fox River farm.
Happily, free-range pork is increasingly becoming the norm
for many people. As with the egg industry, there is no one standard, but a
general free-range guideline is that all pigs need to be outside from birth to
death, with plenty of space to graze and forage.
“There are a number of growers who call their pigs
free-range but they are, in fact, free-range-bred,” says Annie Kavanagh from
Spencers Brook Farm.
“This means
the sows are outside having their piglets, but when the piglets are a few weeks
old, they are weaned and moved into eco shelters, where they spend the rest of their
lives before slaughter at around five months old.”
According
to Annie, there is currently no legislation which differentiates between free-range
and free-range-bred, with the customer paying more for free-range without
knowing whether it’s legit.
“There
needs to be national labelling brought in with a standard for free-range.
However any attempt to bring in a certification system will inevitably lead to
the same kind of fierce debate currently being seen in the egg industry, where
the larger players are pushing for higher stocking densities.”
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN FREE-RANGE
PRODUCERS
Free-range Eggs:
Cackleberries Demeter
Biodynamic Free-range Eggs
Based in: east of
Donnybrook
Available to buy
from: Absolutely Organic; Organic on Charles; Manning Farmers Market (at
Redtail Organic Meat stall); Peaches
Farm open to the
public: Yes (by appointment only)
How many hens: 28
hens per hectare (rotated around paddock in mobile accommodation)
Katie Joy’s Free-range
Eggs
Based in: Kojonup
(towards Albany)
Available to buy
from: For stockists, head to their Facebook page
Farm open to the
public: In the pipeline
How many hens: 900
hens per hectare (pastures are rotated)
Laterite Ridge
Free-range (also free-range pork)
Based in: York
Available to buy
from: Perth City Farmers; York IGA; The Local Grocer (online)
Farm open to public: No
How many hens: under
500 hens per hectare
Manavi Eggs (new)
Based in: Watheroo
(near Gingin)
Available to buy
from: The Lettuce Shop; small home delivery service in
northern suburbs, and in the Moora, Dalwallinu area
Farm open to the
public: No
How many hens: 125
hens per hectare (rotated around paddock in mobile accommodation)
Margaret River
Free-range Eggs.
Based in: Margaret
River
Available to buy
from: For stockists, head to http://www.margaretrivereggs.com.au/
Farm open to the public: Yes, for their
annual open day in November
How many hens: 2,500
hens per hectare (pastures are rotated)
Free-range Chicken:
Mt Barker Free-Range
Chicken (owned by Milne Agrigroup)
Based in: Mt
Barker (near Albany)
Available to buy
from: Most supermarkets and butchers
Farm open to the
public: No
Free-range Pork:
Jindong Free-range
(grass-fed)
Based in: south
of Busselton
Available to buy
from: The Local Grocer (online); Manning Farmers Market (at Greenfriar Distributions
stall)
Farm open to public: Open
to industry only
Killara Open-Range
Pork
Based in: Boyup
Brook
Available to buy
from: Selected butchers, such as Exclusive Meats and Meat @79
Farm open to public: Unknown
Laterite Ridge Free-range
(also free-range eggs)
Based in: York
Available to buy
from: Perth City Farmers
Farm open to public: No
Linley Valley Free
Range Pork (owned by Craig Mostyn Group)
Based in: Albany
Available to buy
from: Selected butchers; IGA
Farm open to public: No
Plantagenet Pork
(owned by Milne Agrigroup)
Based in: Plantagenet region, Great Southern
Available to buy
from: Selected butchers; Coles;
Woolworths
Farm open to public:
No
Spencers Brook Farm
Based in: Toodyay
Available to buy
from: Production currently on hold
Farm open to public: No
To read online, click link
