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

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