UN 'wake up' call on climate change - our webinars will help

The latest United Nations report on the implications of climate change for all life on earth is a serious ‘wake-up’ call for everyone to do their bit in the drive to halt pollution and global warming.Species extinctions are a huge threat. The impacts of industrial agriculture on the environment, public health, and rural communities make it an unsustainable way to grow our food over the long term. Scientists recognise that better science-based methods are available. At Freeranger Eggs, we believe the report validates the importance of our our proposed webinars to encourage the establishment of more freerange farms. Everyone can help to establish more genuine, small scale free range egg farms by supporting a programme of webinars demonstrating all the processes involved. The webinars will encourage hundreds more farms to be established.An eBook on starting a free range farm is also available through the Freeranger website. There isn't much time to reach the crowd funding target Of $8000 as the first webinar is scheduled for World ERgg Day, October 11. The webinars will be free and all participants will receive a copy of our eBook.The Crowd Funding appeal is at:https://www.gofundme.com/2tar52c

Free range farming – good for the planet and consumers

Starting a free range egg farm can be a rewarding business – as added income for an existing venture or as a stand-alone business. Low density production results in more sustainable production and climate benefits in the form of carbon sequestration. Political changes to the definition of ‘free range’ have put the spotlight on free range production and has increased demand for genuine free range eggs. But where do people start? A series of webinars on establishing small free range farms is being developed by Victorian free range farmers Anne and Phil Westwood of Freeranger Eggs, at Grantville near Phillip Island. The couple believe that encouraging new small-scale start up farms is a better option for the industry and consumers than trashing regulations to allow intensive production systems to label eggs as free range.The fundamental problem with an intensive stocking density is the unsustainably high nutrient load as each hen produces half a cubic metre of manure a year. At a density of 10,000 hens per hectare, that's 5000 cubic metres of manure on each hectare of land - posing a health risk as well as environmental damage. Sustainable production using regenerative farming methods is a far better option. The webinars will help participants understand the variety of regulations including food safety and Australia's crazy labelling requirements. Anyone who wants to encourage more people to set up genuine free range egg farms can support a Crowd Funding appeal to develop a series of on-line webinars. These will encourage more traditional free range egg farms to be established throughout the country. Freeranger Eggs is getting more requests about running workshops from people wanting to enter the free range industry. The extra activity has been brought on by the political decision to allow consumers to be misled by industrial-scale egg producers who are now legally allowed to label their eggs as free range. The Crowd funding appeal is at: https://www.gofundme.com/2tar52c More details about our farm can be found on the farm website here

Free range farming webinars on track

Work is progressing on setting up a series of webinars on establishing free range farms. The success of our crowd funding appeal will be essential for top results.Researching how to prepare a webinar has demonstrated that there are many pitfalls for the unwary. It’s not just a matter of pulling out an existing power point presentation used in on-farm workshops. We need to prepare engaging graphics and videos. There are many webinar templates and platforms to choose from, each of which has pros and cons. Selecting the right one will be crucial for success and one of the considerations will be determining the number of participants expected. Will the technology work seamlessly? Direct participation is essential for questions to be answered in real time.

Crowd Funding appeal for free range webinars

It’s slow-going, but we still hope to achieve our crowd funding target to develop webinars encouraging more free range farms to be established. Everyone can help to establish more genuine, small scale free range eggs farms by supporting a programme of webinars demonstrating all the processes involved. The webinars will encourage hundreds more farms to be established all over Australia and other parts of the world. Freeranger Eggs in South Gippsland and the Freeranger Club have run workshops in the past, but the webinars will reach far more potential egg farmers. An eBook on starting a free range farm is also available through the Freeranger website. Once the target is reached, the webinars will be free and all participants will receive a copy of our eBook.The Crowd Funding appeal is at: https://www.gofundme.com/2tar52c

100 donors needed to meet crowd funding target for free range webinars

Everyone can help Freerangr Eggs reach our initial target of 100 donors to the crowd funding campaign for developing webinars encouraging more free range farms to be established. The webinars will be free for participants and each will receive a copy of our eBook on setting up a free range farm. To help, click https://www.gofundme.com/2tar52c

More people want to set up free range farms

We are getting more requests about running workshops from people wanting to set up sustainable free range farms. The extra activity has been brought on by the stupid political decision to allow consumers to be misled by industrial-scale egg producers who are now legally allowed to label their eggs as free range.

Some of the enquiries are from existing family farmers looking for ways to diversify. On-farm workshops have worked well in the past where we have demonstrated how to operate a sustainable farm producing top quality eggs but the workshops tend to disrupt day-to-day farm activities, as well as presenting biosecurity risks, which is why we have been trying to set up a series of on-line webinars to encourage more people into the industry.https://www.gofundme.com/2tar52c Our eBook on setting a free range business is readily available and members of the Freeranger Club are able to download information from our website which helps them set up and run their businesses.