Fines for mislabeling eggs are just a cost of doing business for dodgy producers

The scale of profits made by industrial egg producers labeling their eggs as free range has been highlighted in Western Australia. The false labeling adds millions of dollars each year to the profits of unscrupulous businesses Speaking in parliament, Nationals agriculture spokesman Colin de Grussa said WA egg producers were concerned at dodgy practices, allowing one operator to undercut competitors with prices that could not be matched by legitimate egg producers. Mr de Grassa said there was an industry estimate, that CF Farms free-range facility could produce 98,000 dozen eggs per week, yet it sells 150,000 dozen free-range eggs He said the business, previously trading as Snowdale Holdings, was fined a record $750,000 and ordered to pay $300,000 costs in 2017 after the ACCC took the company to the Federal Court for falsely labeling about five million cartons of eggs as free range. Fines for deceptive conduct and breaches of consumer law are regarded simply as a cost of doing business.

Family farming is the sustainable future for agriculture

In the short term, there may be a need for intensive agricultural production systems because of the incessant demand to stock supermarket shelves. But the unwieldy monocultures created by this processes are doomed in the long term and there will almost certainly be a resurgence in small-scale family farming with niche markets producing food for consumers who care about the food they eat and environmental sustainability. Establishing more genuine free range egg farms around the world will be a key part of the growth in clean food and a sustainable future for everyone on the planet.

Ensure pullets are properly vaccinated

When selecting pullets for a farm, it’s important to ensure they have been vaccinated against the common diseases they may encounter. Hens on genuine free range farms with small flocks sizes and low stocking densities are likely to have fewer health problems than intensive businesses running many thousands of birds, but an occasional infection may arise. When a chicken has a runny nose or conjunctivitis, you might guess that it has a respiratory illness. But which one? Avian influenza is one of the big fears - but that’s unlikely on a well managed farm. Several common chicken diseases — including coryza, infectious bronchitis and infectious laryngotracheitis — have similar symptoms, making them hard to tell apart. The treatment for each disease is different, so getting a laboratory diagnosis is essential, Coryza causes conjunctivitis, coughing and a major drop in egg production. Infectious bronchitis often affects the kidneys and reproductive system as well as the upper respiratory system. It can spread quickly, especially when hens are confined in sheds, it affects egg production but seldom kills many birds. In addition to the common respiratory symptoms, it can cause rough eggshells and uneven colouration of brown eggs. If the chickens are infected when they’re very young, the disease can destroy their oviducts.

Regenerative farming is the only environmentally sustainable food production system

Regenerative agriculture has emerged as an effective way to produce food while minimising environmental damage Sustainable is not good enough because Industrial farms have adopted the term and destroyed soil health and productivity – just like the industrial scale egg producers who pretend they are offering free range eggs. Clearly Regenerative agriculture can’t be done on a large scale, effective long term production requires large numbers of small producers able to carefully manage their inputs and outputs. Check out regenerative farming principles on our website: freeranger.com.au

Freerange egg farms are environmentally sustainable

Data from the science agency CSIRO shows 76 per cent of people think egg farming has a lower impact on the environment than other industries, up from 66 per cent last year. There is a balance between animal welfare and environmental concerns, in an interview with Australian Associated Press, Australia Eggs managing director Rowan McMonnies said most important issues involved trade-offs. But his claims about free range farms are misleading. He said “Free range farming uses more land. There's no doubt. In terms of the cooling of sheds it's harder because they're not sealed so use a bit more energy. "There's less feed efficiency because the hens are out and about." However, on genuine free range farms, sheds use far less energy because they are not mechanically cooled. And feed efficiency is generally higher because the hens obtain a significant part of their diet from the paddocks on which they graze.Mr McMonnies' comments are probably right if they relate only to the intensive production systems which Australian Eggs pretends are free range.