Free Range Farmers Association still can't face reality

The Free Range Farmers Association Secretary didn't like my statement that the Association is in meltdown and as you can see from her earlier response – she says that my comments “will be forwarded to our legal representation for further action.”

She complains that my comments constitute 'bullying' which is a bit rich coming from a committee which has been expert at attempting to intimidate and control members. Anyway, I will be more than happy to deal with these issues in court if that is their choice.

The word 'Meltdown' appears to have particularly got up her nose but what better word could describe an organisation with this record:

Membership of the Free Range Farmers Association has fallen dramatically following committee decisions in 2012 and 2013 not to uphold the Association's standards relating to the use of colouring additives in poultry feed and packing eggs from non-accredited sources.

Former FRFA Secretary Tania Murray resigned in April 2013

Former President and FRFA Accreditation Officer Graeme Barwise resigned from the Association in May 2013, following false allegations by the acting secretary that he had no hens on his farm. She repeated that false claim in a formal complaint to the Victorian Farmers Markets Association about the Free As A Bird farm at Tooradin. Following an investigation, the complaint was shown to be unfounded.

Former President and Accreditation Officer Philip Westwood did not renew his FRFA membership at the end of June 2013 – so ceased to be a member at that time. Committee members made false and defamatory allegations about him to other members and outside organisations but were unable to produce a shred of evidence.

Former President Anne Westwood did not renew her FRFA membership at the end of June 2013 – so ceased to be a member at that time.

Former Treasurer and Committee member Phillip Ledin resigned in July 2013

Treasurer Marnie Ellis resigned in July 2013

Former President Dan Green failed to renew his membership for 2013 – 14.

Committee Member Paula Jones chose not to renew her membership

A number of FRFA members have also chosen not to renew their membership for 2013 – 14 as no member benefits were provided by the previous committee.

The FRFA year ends on June 30, and the Model Rules adopted by the Association require membership fees to be paid in advance prior to July 1 each year. The committee failed to send out membership renewals prior to the year end and membership fees had not been paid before the annual meeting which was hurriedly called on August 12, 2013. Only some 'members' were advised when the annual meeting was to be held. Annual accounts were not circulated and proper notice of the 2013 Annual General Meeting was not sent to all members – in fact the Association had no members at that time as the fees had not been paid.

Minutes of the AGM have not been circulated and members have not been advised who is currently on the committee.

'Meltdown' seems to be an apt description of the current state of the Free Range Farmers Association. The actions of the committee brought the Association into disrepute.
I rest my case!!!

No 'Free Range' voice in Victoria

It's very sad that In Victoria there is no longer a voice for the free range egg industry. The Free Range Farmers Association Inc. appears to be in complete meltdown. Following very dodgy events over the past 12 months the Association has lost four former presidents, two former treasurers and two former secretaries. It is understood that several 'ordinary members' have not renewed their membership as a result of the scandalous behaviour of the committee - but their names still appear as 'members' on the FRFA website. What is the association trying to hide?
The industry deserves better than this but the current President, Dianne Moore and Secretary, Jessica Luketic refuse to recognise the problems they have created.
At a time when Woolworths and Coles have taken on the issue of stocking density standards for 'free range' eggs it's hard to believe that these people have been so prepared to destroy a strong industry voice. Sure, there are animal welfare groups out there making some of the running, but the egg industry deserves its own voice.

Floods cause havoc in West Gippsland

Only 12 stallholders (and not many more customers) made it to Churchill Island Farmers' Market on Saturday because the roads were cut by flood water from heavy rain on Thursday and Friday.

The South Gippsland Highway was closed at Tooradin and Lang Lang and many side roads were impassable. The only way for people to get from Melbourne was via Warragul - which turned a one and a half hour drive into three hours or more.

Worse than that, one of the members of the Free Range Farmers Association at Tooradin was flooded and we now have 300 of his chooks on our farm with another 300 coming tomorrow.  Refugees from the floods!

It was a bit of challenge getting sheds and a paddock ready - but not as much of a challenge as he faced.

Plans to dump the poultry welfare code

Here is a post from the website of the Free Range Farmers Association which is worth repeating:

Changes designed to water down the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals, Domestic Poultry are now being planned by the Australian Egg Corporation. It has arranged a forum to discuss the issues in Sydney on April 4 and it is vital for real Free Range farmers across Australia to have their say.
James Kellaway, AECL Managing Director, always claims that the organisation represents every industry sector when AECL actions make it clear that the Egg Corp only cares about the big operators and takes no notice of the free range sector (unless it's the intensive 'free range' version).
Help us to make your voice heard by telling us what you think about watering down the Model Code which establishes clear guidelines for the free range industry. The fundamentals of the Model Code are stocking density and beak trimming. The current Code is crystal clear on beak trimming - it must only be a last resort when other methods of controlling feather picking and cannibalism have been tried and failed. But the Egg Corporation accredits farms to it Egg Corp Assured programme when they have beak trimmed or de-beaked their birds at day old or soon after - completely contravening the Code which the Egg Corp still claims is a mandatory requirement of its accreditation scheme.
The issue of stocking density was clear to all in the industry until a couple of years ago. It stipulates a maximum outdoor stocking density of 1500 hens per hectare. But then some of the 'smart' operators felt they could exploit what they saw as a loophole and use a clause in the appendix to the Code which allows higher stocking densities for meat birds.
They claim (now supported by AECL) that this permits an unlimited number of birds and some farms are running up to 50,000 hens per hectare - all with the blessing of AECL. The Egg Corporations says it plans to close this 'loophole' by introducing its new standard (which it wants to call Egg Standards Australia) which will impose a ceiling of 20,000 hens per hectare, remove all restrictions on beak trimming and allow birds to be locked up in sheds for 25 weeks.
If you want your voice to be heard at the Egg Corp forum on the Model Code, please contact FRFA with your thoughts. 

You can contact FRFA at farmers@dcsi.net.au
This fight has been ongoing for about two years and there are no signs yet that the Egg Corporation will take any notice of egg farmers - so we hope to show politicians the duplistic nature of the AECL's plans.

New website in action

Our new Freeranger Eggs website is now live at www.freeranger.com.au  I spent a couple of months getting things organised and I revamped the website of the Free Range Farmers Association at the same time.
Have a look at www.freerangefarmers.com.au and tell me what you think.

The argument for a national definition of 'free range'

There is now a broad agreement in the Australian egg industry that clear, legal definitions need to be established for different methods of production.

A national definition for free range egg production is firmly on the agenda and submissions are being made to the Federal Government to implement a standard.

The Free Range Farmers Association in Victoria and the national industry body, Free Range Egg and Poultry Association of Australia have been pushing for many years that a national definition should be established for free range production systems which meets consumer expectations.

These arguments have been boosted by the Australian Egg Corporation's managing director, James Kellaway, who has called for the definitions of egg-production processes to be enshrined in law. He said: “We have definitions that are enforced by the industry but we want to make such definitions more robust and definitive … what we'd like to see is a definition that is clearly enunciated and enforced”

The Free Range Egg and Poultry Association of Australia Inc. welcomes that announcement and has again written to the Minister for Agriculture, Senator Joe Ludwig, re-opening the debate for the development of a clear definition for free range egg production.

The Association has argued that the starting point should be the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals – Domestic Poultry. The definition should require a maximum outdoor stocking density of 1500 hens per hectare and prohibit the beak trimming or de-beaking of birds.

Currently, many producers who label their eggs as 'free range' run stocking densities well above the 1500 bird limit. AECL has revealed that some farms run as many as 40,000 chickens per hectare.

The Model Code requires producers to find alternative measures to combat feather pecking and cannibalism before resorting to beak trimming – but most farms (even those which claim to be free range) make no attempt to find alternatives. Their birds are beaked trimmed at day old or soon after.

The Australian Egg Corporation is currently trying to implement a new standard for a version of free range production that will allow a stocking density of up to 20,000 birds per hectare and will allow beak trimming as a matter of course.

Many successful commercial egg farms have demonstrated that beak trimming is totally unnecessary for hens on a free range farm – unless the farm is over stocked.

A busy day on the farm

Today was one of those days. Strong winds, rain, a couple of sheep with fly strike, a journalist came this morning to do an interview for a magazine article and this afternoon we had our annual audit for the Free Range Farmers Association.


I think I'll have a coffee now and go to bed to watch some DVD's of the old Avengers TV series!

At least our egg production is holding up well and we don't have any problems meeting all the orders. We don't have a market this weekend so with a bit of luck I should be able to cruise for the next couple of days.

Anne retires from her part time job with Trust for Nature this week, so she will on the farm full time which will make things considerably easier and should mean that we can get our veggie garden back in shape. It has been sadly neglected for the past year or so.

Saying 'NO' is so hard

Demand from restaurants etc for free range eggs is showing no signs of slowing down. We are taking on another restaurant in Cowes on Phillip Island but this week we have declined two other requests to supply our eggs. One potental order from a restaurant in Melbourne (part of a major chain) for 150 - 200 dozen eggs each week would have taken half our weekly production.We also had to knock back a cooking school which is starting in Carlton because we simply don't deliver that far. They only wanted one or two boxes a week (30 dozen) but it was too far away.
It's very hard saying 'NO' but our food miles policy limits us to within one hour of the farm.

It's great that there is such an underlying demand for free range eggs and that consumers (professional and private) are increasingly aware that many so-called 'free range' eggs are produced on farms where the hens are de-beaked and have little or no direct access to pasture.
It's really only by looking for the logo of the Free Range Farmers Association on packs of eggs that consumers can be sure they are buying genuine free range eggs. Member farms are inspected annually to ensure that they comply with the strict standards of the Association - such as no de-beaked birds, stocking density requirements and a clear audit trail for the eggs produced and sold by the farm..
We are currently receiving three or four requests each month from restaurants in Melbourne and that probably has something to do with publicity such as the Mercurio's Menu TV show last month and our website which gets over 1000 hits each week. There will be a spot on Talk To The Animals this month, so the phone will keep ringing!

High Noon on the Range

This is part of an article from the Epicure section of today's TheAge newspaper.

Whether it's chicken, eggs or pork, there is no legal definition for 'free range', and this has some premium producers concerned, writes Mary O'Brien.

The term "free-range" is mainly used in connection with eggs, chicken meat and pork. But there is no legal definition of "free-range" and a small organic farmer's "free-range" is very different to the "free-range" of a mass egg producer with 120,000 chickens which often have little more space than their caged counterparts.

Choice consumer group has been campaigning for years for tighter regulation of the industry.

"We would like consumers to have greater confidence that when they are purchasing a product that is labelled free-range, that it's produced in a way they would believe is consistent with free-range practices," Choice's Clare Hughes says.

Earlier this month, free-range egg farmers renewed calls for an independent accreditation system after figures released earlier this month showed there are not enough free-range hens to produce the number of "free-range" eggs being sold.

The number-crunching was carried out by NSW Greens MP John Kaye, also a mathematician, who says one in six eggs labelled free-range on retail shelves are actually cage or barn-laid.

Free Range Farmers Association president Anne Westwood is frustrated by the situation. She says 90 per cent of "free-range" chooks are debeaked, and in big farms they are often unable to find their way outside.

Laid to order

"OUR chooks lay to order; their eggs are sold before they're laid," laughs Gippsland farmer Anne Westwood.

Though she has a waiting list for her Freeranger Eggs, Ms Westwood is not going to expand much more.

She keeps about 1000 chooks, separated into flocks of 200 birds to minimise problems of disease and aggression.

As president of the Free Range Farmers Association, she abides by strict rules and her farm is independently audited.

She encourages her customers from farmers' markets to visit Freeranger Eggs in Grantville to see how chooks can be farmed in a safe, free-range and sustainable environment.

The flocks are enclosed in electro-netted paddocks and guarded by Maremma dogs. They have 24-hour access to pasture and are never locked up. They lay their eggs in eight mobile roosting houses.

"Our customers who are buying free-range eggs want to come to our farm gate and see our chooks running around in the grass with their dogs for protection and with the horses and sheep as well," Ms Westwood says.

She aims to produce 450 dozen eggs a week. Freeranger Eggs cost about $2 a dozen more than standard eggs, but operating costs are higher than for bigger factory farms and they can't buy feed in large quantities.

"I'm frustrated because we're selling a product that is what it is and people who are not are claiming the same status."

Freeranger Eggs are sold at the Organic Edge in Maribyrnong, the Fruit Plaza, Pakenham, farmers' markets at Churchill Island and Pakenham and local stores.
The full article (unfortunately without photos) is at http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/epicure/high-noon-on-the-range/2009/09/28/1253989866327.html

The Woolworths/Safeway debate rolls on

The debate is continuing over whether or not the announcement by Woolworths that it plans to reduce the brands of cage eggs it sells will result in more free range sales.

This article appeared in the Moorabool News, a local newspaper distributed throughout the Bacchus Marsh region of Victoria.

Woolworths has free
range on eggs
By Kate Green
Barn laid eggs could be on the menu in more Moorabool households following a decision by supermarket giant Woolworths to cut the number of cage-laid eggs on its shelves.
Despite higher cost to the consumer, averaging $2.00 more per carton of 12 for free-range or barn laid eggs, cage eggs have lost a market share of 1.5 per cent per year since 2000.
Woolworths is phasing out its 'Woolworths Select' caged eggs, cutting the number of cage-egg brands it sells from 15 to 11 and continuing to sell 28 barnlaid and free-range brands.
Vesna Luketic is the Managing Director of Myrniong based business Family Homestead Genuine Free Range Eggs and explains that the decision to reduce cage laid egg brands is more likely driven by improving profit, not animal welfare.
"This will not speed up a consumer-driven switch to free-range & barn laid, in fact this will only give Woolworths greater negotiating power within the industry to drive prices of eggs down, which will only affect the farmer.
"If there are only 11 brands/lines, this means that the competition within the industry to supply these cage eggs will become even more competitive and fierce, which will only drive down the price, which will not be reflective on the supermarket shelves for the consumer, but will allow a greater margin for Woolworths, and in turn will impact the farmers bottom line.
"If 80 per cent of eggs sold within Australia are in fact cage eggs, can you imagine the price bargaining power that Woolworths will have?" she asked.
Ms Luketic also refuted Woolworths' claim that reducing the number of brands of cage eggs it sells will increase sales of barn and free-range eggs.
"The concept of supply and demand is simple. If the consumer wants to purchase cage eggs, a choice usually price driven, then it doesn't matter if there are 20 brands to choose from or 11 brands, that consumer will still purchase cage eggs. Therefore the level of sales for cage eggs from Woolworths will not decrease.
"It is the Australian consumers who are more aware and pushing animal welfare issues that have been driving the increase of free-range egg sales in Australia.
The rate of change occurs due to education and awareness of animal welfare issues and overall consumer support of business that are animal and environmentally friendly," she said.
The debate over accredited free-range eggs and barn laid eggs also continues.
Ms Luketic explained that barn laid factory farmed eggs come from free range hens housed in large sheds which may never go outside and these eggs come off conveyor belts.
"If the consumer was really aware that they were paying more for eggs produced under these types of systems they would most likely not buy them.
"The cost of 'genuine freerange' farming is extremely high, production costs are greater and such farming is very labour intensive. Margins are already extremely low and here we have Woolworths already waiting at the bit to reduce prices. The price needs to be higher, not lower, that way farmers can actually make a decent living, and be supported," she said.
Family Homestead Genuine Free Range Eggs are an accredited free-range egg producer.

And in last week's Weekly Times, Les White wrote this article:
WOOLWORTHS"STUNT' Egg growers crack it

WOOLWORTHS' move away from cage eggs is nothing more than a publicity stunt, according to the Australian Egg Corporation.
The AEC says cage egg sales will remain the same. despite Woolworths' reduction of cage suppliers.
The corporation has accused the supermarket of playing games with producers to increase its bargaining power.
But the AEC has also come under criticism, again being accused of representing the interests of cage producers over the free range sector.
One of the country's most respected free range farmers,Ivy Inwood, has even written to Agriculture Minister Tony Burke complaining about the situation.
In a circular to members, seen by The Weekly Times the AEC says it believes Woolworths' apparent move to halve its number of cage egg suppliers was to "consolidate their stock, reduce supplier numbers and therefore increase their price bargaining power".
The supermarket has rejected the claims. "This is about responding to consumer preferences,"a Woolworths spokesman said.
Free range farmers have attacked the AEC over an item in its newsletter which suggests egg farmers should tell media that "thousands of workers and their jobs could be threatened by any such move (away from cage eggs)."
"Some might conclude that if this were to occur, it would represent a gross abuse of market power by retailers and restaurant chains," the newsletter said.
Ivy Inwood, who produces both caged and free range eggs, has complained to Mr Burke that the AEC bats for cage producers at the expense of the free range industry.
She said a move to more free range would produce more employment because it was much more labour-intensive than fully-automated cage systems.
But AEC communications manager Jacqueline Baptista said moves away from cage eggs could see the eggs imported from overseas, resulting in lost Australian jobs.
She said the AEC "stands by all production methods", and denied the circular instructed members about what they should say to media.
Farm Pride, Family Homestead and Mrs Inwood rejected suggestions free range eggs could drop in price as demand increased.
"How can we drop the price unless we go automated, which means the birds don't go outside," Mrs Inwood said.
A spokesman for Mr Burke had not returned calls by The Weekly Times at the time of going to print.

Also see the post on this blog dated Sunday August 16

Farm inspections almost complete

This is always a hectic time of year with farm inspections undertaken throughout Victoria. I've been driving around various parts of the state looking at member farms of the Free Range Farmers Association as well as egg producers who want to be accredited to the Australian Egg Corporation's National Egg Quality Assurance Program.
There's now just one farm to inspect for the FRFA and then the job's done for a year!