Eggs to order

 Eggs laid on our family farm are supplied to customers within a day or two. You'll never find fresher eggs. As the hens are raised on pasture with a natural diet and total free-range access 24/7, there are no tastier eggs. You will never find our eggs in a supermarket. the eggs are laid to order, and we only supply local regular customers.Order by phone or email. At times we also have hens available for people who want their own fresh eggs .  As a result of our farming methods, the farm has a very low carbon footprint  making our eggs better than carbon neutral,they are carbon negative. our farm received international recognition in 2012 when we won the Energy Globe award for Australia. The International Energy Globe Awards (the World  Awards for Sustainability) have been presented annually in Austria since 1999 to recognise projects that 'make careful and economical use of resources and employ alternative energy sources.' ​ Demand for our eggs is always greater than the supply available so  new customers need to order in advance.Each week we are beset by IT firms offering SEO services which they claim will boost our sales. Clearly that is impossible as we already sell everything we produce and have no spare eggs looking for  intermittent customers.

Farm sustainability, native vegetation and Deep Ecology

The Freeranger Eggs property is ecologically important because it is a vegetated link between the Grantville Nature Conservation Reserve and the Bass River and forms part of the only riparian forest left on the river. Farm activities were designed to minimise off-site and on-site impacts. All creek lines are vegetated to maintain water quality run off into the Bass. A study backed by the Federal Government's Envirofund program found that free range farming practices are viable and have minimal impacts on the environment. The study, carried out on five properties in the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Authority area showed that properly managed free range egg farms have many benefits - including long term sustainability. The Freeranger Farm was one of the participants and we believe that low density production is the key to sustainability. "It doesn't make any real difference whether you are running cattle, sheep or chooks, if your stocking rate is too high you will run into trouble" is our philosophy. It's hard to justify European farming practices in many parts of Australia - they simply don't work with our soil types and climate. The frequency of droughts is a clear example of the stupidity in trying to maintain exotic pastures and growing crops which require huge and unsustainable inputs. Apart from the massive problems of erosion and salinity, the inputs needed to maintain unrealistically high production levels create unhealthy nutrient loads and reduce farm viability over the years. The report demonstrates that stocking densities have a direct impact on feed costs. Supplementary feed inputs rose significantly as stocking rates increased. Once the results were produced in table form it was easy to see that a free range egg farm with a stocking rate of 9 Dry Sheep Equivalent (DSE) per hectare, produced an egg laying rate of 70% with feed consumption of 26 kg per bird per year. A farm with a stocking rate of 75 DSE per hectare produced a lay rate of 65% with feed consumption almost double at 48 kg per bird. At current prices that's an added cost of nearly $10 a year for each bird - which doesn't sound much until you multiply it over the whole flock. The Freeranger Farm is at the most productive end of the scale. Pasture management here has been aimed at increasing the amount of native grasses in the vegetated cover. The report showed that soils on the farm were acidic and had relatively low nutrient levels. We regarded it as counter productive to try to change the soil balance to favour exotic grasses and a management style was chosen with a preference for adapting farm practices to fit the natural soil types on this farm. Microlaena stipoides is one of Australia's most important native grasses with a widespread distribution in the eastern States. Its bright green colour, drought and frost resistance as well as shade tolerance make it superior to any non-native species as it has evolved for thousands of years in the dry and unpredictable Australian climate. It is easily out-competed by exotic grasses in neutral or alkaline soil conditions, preferring acidic soils like those at Grantville. During the trial, lime was only applied to small test sites. The majority of the pasture had no inputs other than chicken manure from the free-ranging hens and native grass coverage increased by about 25%.The regeneration of native shrubs and trees has also been encouraged. There is also a high level of activity by earthworms and dung beetles. We appear to have at least two types of dung beetles on the property because there is evidence of activity all year round and some species are known to be dormant over winter. The farm is a member of the Western Port Biosphere Reserve. Deep Ecology management practices reflect our view that our activities must have minimal negative impacts. We are a part of the environment, not apart from it.The environmental values of the farm were recognised in 2012 when we won the Energy Globe Award for Australia. We are encouraging more sustainable farms like ours to be established by making our eBook available and preparing webinars on setting up a farm. Details are on our website. The first webinar on setting up a free range farm is planned for World Egg Day next year – Friday October 11, assuming sufficient funds are raised in our crowd funding appeal at https://www.gofundme.com/2tar52c

Sustainable farm management

Freeranger Eggs at Grantville is an example of sustainable farming. The farm management plan takes a three pillars approach to how the farm operates. Land sustainability is one pillar, but equally important are food safety and animal welfare. Growth is not a part of our philosophy. we need to encourage people to set up more farms, not upscale existing farm businesses. We believe that will support more people working the land fairly and will ensure long-term food security. Despite all the political bickering in Canberra over emissions trading scheme targets, some small businesses have been playing their part in addressing the problem. Freeranger Eggs has been getting on with mitigating the impact of carbon emissions. The farm's carbon footprint is limited by imposing a food miles policy for deliveries, using recycled materials and equipment whenever possible, utilising solar power and mechanical processes and an effective waste reduction programme. As a result, the 1200-chicken farm generates only about 60 tonnes of CO2 each year. But it is better than carbon neutral, it is carbon positive. The average organic matter in soil tests was 4.1 per cent in 2004, in 2006 it was 6.0 per cent, and in 2009 it was 7.9 percent. Calculations based on 2-inch deep samples, show that over those five years the farm sequestered about 14 tons of CO2 per acre or four tonnes of carbon per acre on the grasslands. Further testing and calculations have not been carried because there has been a total lack of interest in the results. The farm applies no chemical fertilisers, herbicides, or pesticides and this policy increases the biological life in the soil and increases the rate of carbon sequestration. Rotational grazing is practised on the pastures – taking advantage of photosynthesis to pull CO2 into the plants and then into the roots from where it transfers to the soil. In addition, every year at least another tonne of CO2 per acre continues to be sequestered by the regular regeneration of Kangaroo Apples (Solanum laciniatum) in the main paddocks. Native vegetation has been protected on approximately 100 acres of the property and regeneration there sequesters a further tonne of CO2 per acre. This brings a grand total of 1500 tonnes of CO2 sequestered on this property over five years – an average rate of 300 tonnes per year compared with the farm's carbon output of around 60 tonnes. On days of full sun the solar panels on the farm shed generate 13 - 17kW of electricity a day and as on average the farm consumes just 9kW a day it helps the bottom line. Thw farm is a true free range operation with small flocks of chickens in separate paddocks with mobile roost houses where eggs are laid.An eBook is available on setting up free range eggs farm s and we are developing a series of webinars. Crowd funding is being sought to prepare the webinars . Details on the freeranger eggs website. Www.freeranger.com.au Freeranger Eggs gained international recognition in 2012 as the Australian winner of the Energy Globe Award.

Dinner cruise on the Yarra

We went to the Fine Food Festival at Jeff's Shed in Melbourne yesterday and, as always, it was great fun looking at all the equipment and products which are available. But the highlight was after the show closed at 5pm- we went on a dinner cruise on the Yarra at the invitation of the Austrian Consul General.
The invitation came about because we won the Energy Globe Award for Australia earlier in the year.

Energy Globe website now has all the 2012 winners up

The Energy Globe website has all the national winners posted.  Have a look at Freeranger Eggs at:
http://www.energyglobe.info/awards/national/awdid/26490/

Grantville isn't exactly the Australian Outback ... and we don't claim to be organic ... but apart from that everything is fine.

Freeranger Eggs wins Energy Globe Award for Australia

Freeranger Eggs won a sustainability award from the Austrian-based Energy Globe organisation. The presentation was made in Victoria's Parliament House on Friday May 4 by the Austrian Consul General and Trade Commisioner, Mr Guido Stock.
The Speaker of the House, The Hon Ken Smith, arranged for the award to be presented in the Parliament building to Anne and Phil Westwood of Freeranger Eggs, Grantville.

The International Energy Globe Awards (the World  Awards for Sustainability) have been presented annually in Austria since 1999 to recognise projects that 'make careful and economical use of resources and employ alternative energy sources.' 

Freeranger Eggs has been established to demonstrate that a commercial farming business can operate without compromising the environmental and ecological values of the land as well as meeting strict animal welfare standards. The farm was set up as a traditional mixed farm, running sheep, cattle and free range hens.  

It is being used to showcase sustainable farming principles and provides a practical example of land use which can generate profits as well as good environmental outcomes. Workshops and practical farm sessions are held for students, farmers and as an educational tool for others in the community.

What we are doing can be easily replicated and we have developed an e-book which has helped many others to set up similar operations in Victoria, in other Australian States and even overseas.