The right Balance on welfare, sustainability and food security

 

At Freeranger Eggs we completely agree with a recent article by JAN HENRIKSEN ceo of Aviagen, a world leading poultry breeding business on Balancing animal welfare, sustainability and food security. Our farm’s long-established management plan takes a three pillars approach to how the farm operates. Animal welfare is one pillar, but equally important are land sustainability and food safety and security.

Mr Henriksen wrote: To ensure that the world will continue to be fed, we must strengthen and balance the three central pillars of poultry production.

As our world population grows and resources tighten, our sector stands at the crossroads of three vital goals: protecting animal welfare, caring for the environment and strengthening our food systems.

Like the three sides of a balanced triangle, welfare, sustainability and food security hold each other up. When one weakens balance is lost. Progress means keeping all three in harmony — with welfare and sustainability at the heart of a food system that feeds people everywhere.That balance looks different across regions. Some focus on affordable food; others on environmental protection or advancing welfare. Yet the goal remains the same: building systems that are humane and resilient to feed future generations.

Good welfare isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the foundation of responsible, efficient poultry production. Healthy, well-cared-for chickens are more resilient to disease, adapt better to varied environments and perform more consistently. Welfare supports productivity and food security by reducing loss and improving livability.

The goal isn’t to choose among welfare, sustainability and security, but to recognize how each reinforces the others. When they work in harmony, we create a food system that is responsible and resilient.True resilience comes from local production.

Christmas Day at the farm

 

Christmas at the farm should be around 16°c – ideal BBQ weather if the wind stays away. Bryan will be in charge of cooking the lamb and there will be plenty of side dishes, snacks and drinks throughout the day. Anne will ensure that egg collecting and packing ready for sale continues through the day because our customers come first.

Growing demand for real food

 Each day, thousands of trucks carrying foodstuff including eggs, livestock, cereals and horticultural products travel from farms around Australia to processing, packing and distribution centres. most is carted into the sprawl of cities joining food and other stuff from overseas on supermarket shelves.

Australia’s food is mainly produced in rural areas and consumed in our cities, where most of the population lives. To chase sales, many food producers crave high production by following intensive growing systems. However, top quality food is usually provided by low-volume producers using traditional farming methods with limited or no chemical inputs.The Freeranger Eggs farm at Grantville in Australia is an example of sustainable farming. The farm management plan takes a three pillars approach to how the farm operates. Animal welfare is one pillar, but equally important are land sustainability and food safety. Anne and Phil Westwood have encouraged similar free range farms to be set up around Australia.

The concept is to minimise the environmental footprint of egg production whilst maximising quality for consumers. Small scale production results in better animal health by effective disease control compared with intensive animal husbandry . It also allows the eggs to reach consumers far more quickly than industrial systems where eggs spend weeks or even months in warehouses. Chickens which have unrestricted access to pasture, plus a supplementary ration of natural grains produce eggs with higher nutritional value. Free range eggs are a good source of dietary vitamin D, each egg from hens that spend most of the day outdoors contains about 10% of the required daily value . The vitamin D is concentrated in the yolk. along with most other nutrients such as folic acid.The number of hens on our 200 acre ( 80 hectare) property varies but we run a maximum of 1000, depending on the time of year and demand.  Our eBook on how to set up a sustainable freerange farm is even more vital now the clear consumer demand for free range eggs has generated a strong increase in the number of people thinking about starting their own free range egg businesses.

Small, ethical and sustainable farm businesses can be established to service local communities.

A starting point is reading our eBook on starting a free range farm available from us for just $245. The eBook will be emailed after payment is made into our Bendigo Bank account BSB  633 000 Account 153356233​. Send your details to us at freeranger@dcsi.net.au

Christmas Greetings to all

 

Why bother with a website?

 Our experience over losing our farm website as a result of our Internet Service Provider failing to maintain registration of our domain name has raised a key question for us : - Do we really need a website? There has  been no noticeable drop in demand as a result of our website’s invisibility.

Just what is the difference between a blog and a website?

A blog is a type of web presence with content about specific topics which can be updated. A website is a collection of pages with information about a business and brand. Blogs are easy to regularly update with new posts, keeping readers coming back for more whereas websites tend to be more static and less engaging for customers. An ISP’s monthly charge for maintaining a website compares with zero for a blog. So we have decided not to bother going through all the aggro  fighting to get our website back on line. It's a bit sad as I put a lot of effort into preparing material for the website and the end product was well received in Australia and overseas but there appears to be no value in maintaining a website. Our sales are local to the farm and we have no ambition for exponential growth into a major egg supplier.

Eggs pick up anytime

 

Our egg sales hut is just inside the front gate at the farm. Customers are able to pick up orders anytime. The sign was painted by grand daughter Summer, Whilst visiting from Rockhampton. Here, she's sitting with Anne.

A 'How to' guide for Setting up your own free range farm

 National Agriculture Day in Australia is held each year on the third Friday in November. So this year it was November 18. It was great day to recognise the strong demand for information about setting up freerange farms.

An eBook on how to set up a sustainable freerange farm is available from us and is particularly vital now the clear consumer demand for free range eggs has generated a strong increase in the number of people thinking about starting their own free range egg businesses.

Small, ethical and sustainable farm businesses need to be established to service local communities close to every township.

A good starting point is reading our eBook. Detailed information is provided about things like shed requirements, food safety, egg packaging and labelling.

When deciding to set up a free range egg farm, take the time to plan it properly. Find out the zoning of the land and talk to the Council planning department about their requirements. It’s also worth contacting the State Department of Agriculture. You can find on-line resources in most states. Once that is sorted, talk to your Council Environmental Health Department about any specific requirements they have before you get underway.

Netcomm Wireless modem/router may be our phone problem

 our ageing Netcomm Wireless modem/router has been in use since before the NBN was rolled out. Perhaps it needs to be upgraded as Swoop Broadband can't fix our voice connectivity problem. No-one has been able to contact us by phone for ages. If the problem isn't the modem. it has to be an NBN Co issue or Swoop's bungle.

Home phone may start working again

 Our ISP, Swoop Broadband has given us a few new changes to reconfigure our Netcomm wireless modem router which they say will allow our home phone to work. They've told us that before so lets hope that this time they are right! After months of problems, you may be able to contact us on 03 56788483.

Website troubles

 As our website domain name has been hijacked, our on-line presence is limited to this blog and our Facebook page. We assure customers that our eBook on setting up a free range farm is still available.

It it can be ordered at any time. At just $245. it's a low-cost way of providing all the ideas and tools needed to establish your egg business and will help you prepare your own application to your local Shire to set up a free range farm. There's no need to engage a costly consultant to write the application for you. Free range egg production is a niche market which is why genuine free range eggs are never found in supermarkets. There is a need for free range egg farms to be set up close to every township. Once payment is made, the eBook will be emailed as a Portable Document File (PDF). send payment to our  Bendigo Bank account.P &A Westwood BSB 633 000 Account 153356233.