Trees are beneficial for free range hens

There's been some research in the UK (paid for by McDonalds) which says that tree cover in paddocks is beneficial for free range hens.

Well bless me! I've known that for around 50 years and I reckon that knowledge has been around for 'a while' before that.

But of course no-one takes any notice until there's a research paper by academics which someone has paid for!

What a load of cobblers. Anyway the link is :
http://www.ufaw.org.uk/documents/BRIGHT.pdf

New flock just starting to lay

Our new flock of 300 Isa Browns is just starting to lay. Seven eggs yesterday so they should soon be up to speed.
It means that we will have pullets eggs for the Churchill Island Farmers' Market this Saturday..
Lexie is the Maremma charged with looking after them and she is doing a top job.
I've had to rig up a light in the shed which I turn on just before dusk so all the chooks can see to perch - then when they have all settled, it can be turned off.  Some flocks need a bit of light to see what they are supposed to do - but some happily jump in the sheds in the late afternoon and find their own perch. It largely depends on the time of year. Extended evening daylight gives them plenty of time, but we need to give the youngesters a bit of help at this time of year.

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.

Goodbye Chicca

Chicca loved the sheep trough on hot days

Yesterday was a bad day. We had to euthanase Chicca, our Breton Pyrenean Mastiff. Medication was changed a couple of times, and although there were improvements, the relapses were devastating.
Rather than a skin infection and a urinary tract infection, which was the original veterinary diagnosis, the underlying problem was an aggressive mammary cancer.
Rather than put her through more pain, we had to make the ultimate decision.

This was the first meeting between Chicca and Berkley (our Maremma who died in March)

Our chooks have lost two of their protectors, and we've lost a couple of friends! Chicca was believed to be the only working Breton Pyrenean Mastiff in Australia - all the others here are show dogs.

NSW Greens introduce their Truth in Labelling Bill

Louise Hall wrote this article in today's Sydney Morning Herald:

THE NSW Greens will introduce legislation into the NSW Parliament this week to create a labelling scheme for caged, barn and free range eggs.

Egg producers will be allowed to label their cartons free range only if there is no more than 750 laying fowl per hectare. Water, shade and shelter must also be provided and beak trimming is prohibited under the Truth in Labelling (Free-Range Eggs) Bill.

Eggs that are not free range or barn must be labelled as cage eggs. The use of advertising or packaging that suggests the laying fowl are not kept in cages would be prohibited.

Corporations would face fines of up to $55,000. Individuals could receive six months’ jail and a $5500 fine.

The Greens MP John Kaye said people were being ripped off by unscrupulous caged egg producers, and legitimate free range producers were unable to compete. He said the absence of legislated definitions and enforceable penalties for false labelling meant in some cases free range "is nothing more than a marketing exercise to boost sales and prices".

The ACT and Tasmania have passed legislation to regulate the production and labelling of eggs.

The industry body, the Australian Egg Corporation, said the cap on stocking densities in the draft bill is "unsustainable and unrealistic".

AECL, dominated by Australia’s three largest egg producers, says it will lobby NSW MPs to vote against the bill.
With the Egg Corporation lobbying hard against it, the Bill will have an uphill battle. Hopefully thee will be a groundswell of support to let the MP's realise that the provisions in the Bill are very sustainable and realistic.

Many commercial free range egg farms are operating with those standards already in place all over Australia. Members of associations affiliated with the Free Range Egg and Poultry Association of Australia  meet those requirements which are recognised by consumers as satisfying their 'free range' expectations.

The Australian Egg Corporation of course wants a plan which allows intensive farming operations to be classified as 'free range' and allow up to 20,000 chickens per hectare and the beak trimming of birds to be accepted as 'normal'.

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.

We agree with the Australian Egg Corp (for a change)

James Kellaway, managing director of the Australian Egg Corporation is quoted in The Age newspaper today as saying that definitions of egg-production processes should be enshrined in law. “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”.

That's exactly what we have been saying about the problems consumers have with the lack of a real definition of the term 'free range'.

It's great that at last the Egg Corp has come to the same realisation and hopefully they will help to push the Federal Government into making a decision!

The Free Range Farmers Association and the Free Range Egg and Poultry Association of Australia have been trying to get the Minister for Agriculture, (currently Senator Joe Ludwig) to take a serious look at introducing a real definition for 'free range'. So far successive Ministers have ignored us - but with the Egg Corporation also pushing we just might get somewhere.

Carbon Tax - what real benefit?

The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry has published this brief explanation of the proposed carbon tax in Australia: From July 1, 2012, up to 500 of the top carbon emitting companies will be charged $23 for every tonne of carbon they produce. This will cover up to 60 per cent of Australia’s pollution. This initial cost structure will run for three years, rising by 2.5 per cent a year in real terms, assuming annual inflation of 2.5 per cent (2013/14 ‐ $24.15, 2014/15 ‐ $25.40).

A full emissions trading scheme will then be implemented, allowing the market to set the carbon price.

Allowances and assistance will be made for a number of industries, particularly those heavy on industrial activities such as steel, aluminium, cement and zinc producers, and some manufacturers. A carbon price will not apply to fuel for off‐road and on‐road light transport used by the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries. Households and small business will also be exempt from a carbon price on fuel.

The Government has committed to boosting its 2050 emissions reduction target from 60 percent to 80 percent. It is also targeting a reduction of between 5 and 25 per cent by 2020 (depending on the level of international action).

Taxing these top 500 companies does have implications for small businesses. An increased price for products and services because of the cost of the carbon tax will be passed on.

As a small agricultural business, we won't be directly subject to the tax, but we will obviously pay through increased electricity prices etc. etc. etc.

We still have not heard from the Government how our carbon positive type of production will be taken into account. Why should we be slugged just as hard as any other business which has taken no steps to reduce its carbon footprint?

Great day for a new lamb!

Our first Suffolk lamb for the season was born today - and what a great day it was. Sun and no wind. Tonight is cold but at least there's no rain and no wind!

The little ewe was standing a drinking within half an hour being born, under the watchful eyes of Manola the Maremma whose task it is to look after the sheep.
We have just bought an understudy for Manola - six month old Tora who is getting used to the farm and bonding with our Suffolk/Dorper ram lamb

First drink

Free Ranger iphone game

The UK's Noble Foods, which has the brand Happy Egg Company has launched an iphone 'Free Ranger' game to promote its sales.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/free-ranger/id441507717?mt=8

Is this the shape of things to come?

Chicca's skin infection

Chicca has been aggravating her skin infection by constant licking - so she is now a bucket head (as you can see).
She doesn't like it and thinks I am an evil person for restricting her like this - but we hope it will only be for a couple of weeks.
She's on anti-biotics twice a day and an anti-inflammatory tablet once or sometimes twice a day.

Will the Australian carbon tax work?

The long-awaited carbon tax announcement by the Australian Government looks like a bit of a fizzer to me.

It seems pretty pointless to introduce a tax and then compensate virtually everyone for the extra costs they will face – when the purpose is supposed to be to change behaviour and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

If no-one feels any pain, where is the incentive for people to cut down on their use of petrol, diesel, electricity and all the other pollutants which have become an automatic part of their lives.

On the farm we have reduced our carbon footprint by restricting our delivery policy to within one hour of the farm, using manual production methods (rather than collecting eggs via electricity-driven belts etc.) and maintaining native vegetation on the property.

I don't understand what benefits in terms of a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions the Australian Government expects from a tax which doesn't encourage end users to modify their behaviour.

State Governments seem to understand that the simplest and most effective way to cut down on the use of water is to double the price.

Should be the same with electricity – that will make it more cost-effective to install solar and wind plants – and fuel to cut down on the use of hydro-carbons.

Ag Minister under fire (and he should be)

The Federal Minister for Agriculture, Senator Joe Ludwig, must be a strange bloke. His knee-jerk reaction to ban live cattle exports to Indonesia once massive publicity hit about the treatment of cattle in that country's abattoirs doesn't really sit with his complete indifference to the scams in the egg industry.
It is even worse that the blanket ban on live exports includes Elders whuch has been operating its own state-of-the-art abattoir in Indonesia for some years.  It meets all Australian standards and yet it is not allowed to send cattle there!
Whether or not the live cattle trade should be allowed at all is a separate question. There is much to be said for value-adding here in Australia and re-opening abattoirs in the Northern Territory and Northern Queensland which were forced to close once live exports took off. Interestingly advertisements have just been placed in major newspapers for staff needed at a huge new meat processing facility to be set up in Darwin
But, back to the Minister. If you can act so swiftly Senator Ludwig, why not get off your backside and do something about the eggs in Australia which are labelled as 'free range' when most of them are produced on intensive farms with hens that have been de-beaked (or beak trimmed).

Chicca's almost back to normal

Chicca is now reaonably happy after a hard few weeks

This was Chicca going for a stroll with me this morning. She hasn't recovered completely yet and is still on antibiotics twice a day - but she's doing well. The picture isn't brilliant because I took it with my mobile phone.
Her weight is back to almost 70kgs after dropping around 15kgs when she picked up the infection.She is still spending most of her days indoors, and I doubt she will appreciate being returned to guard duties once she's fully recovered.

Free Range Farmers Association on Facebook

The Free Range Farmers Association now has a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Range-Farmers-Association-Inc/214824421880453

The Association accredits free range egg farms in Victoria which meet its standards. Inspections of every member farm are conducted annually to ensure the standards are being continuously met.

Slow combustion cooking



Bread - just out of the oven

Because of the cold weather, we have fired up the slow combustion stove - so we are using that now instead of the electric oven.
Great for stews, roasts and just about everything - even bread.
Temperature control is a bit iffy for bread, but it does work as this photo shows.
It's great coming down to the kitchen early in the morning to a warm room and being able to have a hot drink from the kettle sitting on the stove.
Makes it a pleasure to get up even on a freezing morning!

Consumer deception on a grand scale

Here's an excellent article by Steve Pennells, published in today's West Australian:
Reality lost down on the farm
The most expensive eggs in the supermarket last week came courtesy of Giuseppe, a third-generation egg farmer who lives with his wife, Victoria, and daughter, Annie, on their family farm built from scratch more than 70 years ago on their own "little piece of Australia".


It’s heart-warming stuff, told by Giuseppe on the egg carton in intricate detail, illustrated with family photos and his gratitude for "supporting our family". Sadly he says, Giuseppe Sr, who started the farm in 1948 is no longer with us. But Nonna still lives in the family home. There’s a black and white picture of her there too, laughing next to Giuseppe Sr in happier times.


Except it’s not Nonna and Poppa. The people in the picture never farmed eggs and never set foot in Australia. They’re also not Italian migrants.


The image is a US Library of Congress picture of two Polish immigrant tobacco farmers in Connecticut who were battling poverty in post-Depression America when the photo was taken in 1940.


Almost nothing else on this $7 carton of eggs is real, either.


Despite the family photos and heart-warming history Giuseppe and his family don’t exist.


Even the four happy chooks pictured clucking in the meadow next to the family photos are on foreign grass. That image is a widely used stock US photo which can also be found as the cover of the book Animal Philosophy a weighty tome on animal ethics with a chapter by Nietzsche.


"It’s not misleading," says Brian Ahmed, the managing director of LT’s Egg Farms, which distributes the Down on The Farm gourmet free-range eggs.


"How does it mislead? It’s the story of a family and that farmer is very common with almost every egg farmer in Australia." When contacted about the eggs this week, Mr Ahmed, who also happens to be president of the Victorian Farmers Federation, said Giuseppe’s story was not a lie.


SP: But they (the family) don’t exist.


BA: But the story of egg farmers if you go to every egg farmer in Australia you’ll find that is a similar story where they’ve all been passed on through generations of families that have grown up on egg farms.


SP: So you don’t think people would believe that’s where the eggs are coming from? BA: Well, that’s exactly what’s happening, mate.


SP: Really? So Giuseppe’s grandparents set up an egg farm in 1948? BA: Well, the date might be different but every farm has been set up in the 40s and 50s and it’s passed on in generations and now you find the children are running those farms.


He settles on the term "symbolic" to describe the company’s creative use of fictitious characters, emotive words and archive photos from the US Library of Congress to create the impression that a close-knit Italian migrant family in Australia was responsible for producing a pack of eggs sitting on the shelves of WA supermarkets.


"I can’t say if that’s (the photo) the actual people because what happens is we have a farmer in Western Australia suppling those eggs and we have a Victorian farmer in Victoria doing the same     thing," Mr Ahmed says.


Well, it’s definitely not anyone from WA or Victoria or any other egg farmer in Australia.


That picture of a Mr and Mrs Andrew Lyman, who set up a tobacco farm in America, was taken in September 1940 by Jack Delano, a photographer for the US Farm Security Administration, an organisation set up in the Depression to combat American rural poverty They farmed some vegetables too, but definitely no eggs.


The images and Giuseppe’s whole fabricated story feed into long-outdated myths surrounding the food that gets on our plate.


Photos of happy chickens frolicking across a meadow like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music are products of a time long since gone and belie the grim reality of an industry of mass production.


One of the most interesting things about the whole Australian-Indonesian cattle fiasco is that while we’ve rightly felt outrage at the images of what happened to our cattle overseas, no one has felt the need to look at the Australian food industry with a critical eye or any sort of introspection.


Phrases like "free range" conjure images that don’t match the reality of intensive farming.


Free-range eggs are produced on an industrial scale and some come from flocks of up to 120,000 birds housed in huge sheds that may never find the door to go outside.


Their eggs come off conveyor belts. There is also no national standard defining what constitutes a free-range egg so those labels and their inflated prices should be treated with scepticism. Still, we’re willing to pay more for them because it eases our guilt.


The very reason Giuseppe was concocted is because we still like to subscribe to the romantic notion that the food we eat got to our plate in the best, most ethical and humane ways.


There’s a reason that Australian abattoirs and producers have always been reluctant to have photographs taken in their slaughter operations. They might be operating to best practice but even at best practice, the bloody reality of a slaughter floor is not a pretty place.


The West Australian’s resident food guru, Rob Broacifield, bemoans the consumer naivety: "We have become infantilised toward food production by our increasing distance from it it’s the reason pork consumption plummeted when the movie Babe was released and while many adults express squeamishness in child-like terms when faced with eating, say a f1uffy cute rabbit".


The pressure to work fast - time is money - means that the animals suffer. No one who eats meat can escape responsibility for that, unless perhaps you rear your own animals and slaughter them on the farm." The message is simple: if you eat the meat, take off the blinkers and take ownership of the reality It’s enough to make Giuseppe Sr roll over in his imaginary grave.


Postscript: Brian Ahmed confirmed late yesterday that Giuseppe and his imaginary family would be erased from the future egg cartons, saying the company had no intention to mislead.

Complain to everyone you can think of !!!!

Truth in Labelling for NSW?

New South Wales' Greens upper house member, Dr John Kaye has introduced his long awaited plan to define 'free range' and limit the consumer deception which is rife in the egg industry all over Australia.
His draft Truth in Labelling Bill sets a maximum outdoor stocking density of 1500 birds per hectare (in line with the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Poultry) and also bans the widespread practice of beak trimming birds which are claimed to be 'free range'.
Predictably, the Australian Egg Corporation doesn't like it because it wants to maintain and increase intensive production processes and allow major egg businesses to keep labelling their eggs as 'free range'.


AECL says:
'The draft, titled ‘Truth in Labelling (Free-range Eggs) Bill 2011’, would see free range hen densities reduced to unsustainable levels for a number of egg producers and would also ban legitimate forms of marketing for caged egg producers.
Despite the free range stocking densities suggested by Dr Kaye’s draft Bill representing levels that are currently farmed by some egg farmers, it dismisses the legitimate practices of others. While AECL firmly believes there needs to be a cap on the outside densities for free range production, the cap being suggested in the draft Bill is unsustainable and unrealistic. The commercial realities of free range egg production mean that the suggested low density in the draft Bill would result in the industry not meeting the current demand for free range eggs. AECL is to send a letter to MLC's and MLA's advising them of the consequences of the draft.'


The Egg Corporation is wrong. The stocking densities proposed in the Bill are clearly commercial as there are many free range egg farms currently operating to those standards. The stocking levels outlined in the Bill meet consumer expectations and hopefully buyers of free range eggs, as well as the many genuine free range farmers in New South Wales, will write or talk to their MLC's and MLA's urging them to support this Bill.
The NSW legislation could be the first step in a national definition of the term 'free range' if we can get the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Senator Joe Ludwig to make a decision.

New FSANZ egg standards to include egg stamping

The new egg standards being introduced by Food Standards Australia and New New Zealand (FSANZ) includes a requirement for all eggs to carry a stamp identifying which farm they are from.
The big operators don't care, they have all the equipment standing by and all they have to do is push a button.
The small operators (like us) don't really mind - it just adds to the daily grind. When I say we don't mind too much - that is as long as the rule applies to everyone selling eggs. Backyard operators who have no idea of food safety procedures are the biggest threat to consumers and if they sell eggs they should have to meet all the same standards.
It's the mid sized operators who are squealing loudest about egg stamping and claiming that it will cost them $20,000 - $30,000 to implement. What they are really worried about is that stamping individual eggs will identify them and hamper egg substitution.
The Australian Egg Corporation could move to clean up the industry, and it will be interesting to see how it responds to the new FSANZ requirements which we are told will be implemented in 18 months. But the AECL usually closes its eyes to the reality of the egg industry, just lke the Meat and Livestock Corporation to the treatment of Australian cattle in Indonesian abattoirs.
AECL has admitted that currently some 'free range' egg producers have stocking densities of 40,000 birds per hectare even though the Model Code recommends a maximum density of 1500. Its only response has been to try to introduce a new standard which allows intensive farms to be called 'free range'.

The free range/organic con is just as active in the USA

It's not just in Australia where big business is conning consumers. Have a look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbqyAemRlno&feature=player_embedded

Chicca's back home

I picked up Chicca from the vet yesterday and she's back on the farm. Looking a whole lot better.

Her temperature is back to normal and she has her appetite back.  We have to keep her inside for a few days until her course of antbiotics is finished (three tablets twice a day) but she doesn't mind as it's pretty wet and miserable outside now.

Quick trip to the vet

Chicca enjoys her 'spa'

We were just about to leave the farm this morning  to head off to Melbourne for an egg industry forum when we noticed that one of our dogs wasn't well.

Chicca didn't want to eat (highly unusual for her) and she seemed to have a high temperature so I rang our local vet straight away and arranged to take her in.

She had dropped heaps of weight (around 15 kgs). They kept her there for some tests and I didn't get back to the farm until midday so it was too late to head off to the city.

This was the forum at which the Australian Egg Corporation says it plans to unveil its new standard for 'free range' egg production - but that will happen whether I am there or not!

I should hear tonight if they went ahead with it, or whether the problems they have encountered made them delay the decision yet again.

More bodgy 'free range' applications to come

A planning application lodged with Mitchell Shire at Seymour in Victoria looks like one of the first applications for a 'free range' farm being set up under the proposed high density standards which the Australian Egg Corporation is still trying to establish.

Valley Park Farms has lodged a planning application for an 'intensive animal husbandry' facility but in its press releases, the company refers to it as a 'free range' egg farm. Free Range Farmers Association has lodged an objection and asked the Shire to consider the stocking density proposed on the farm.

It pointed out the requirements of The Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals - Domestic Poultry  which allows a maximum stocking density on free range egg farms of 1500 birds per hectare. The total amount of land on which this development is proposed is 84.7 Ha - indicating an absolute maximum farm capacity of 127,000 chickens.

The proponents are suggesting 170,000 birds in a total of ten sheds.

The land will be divided into paddocks and the property will also have ancilliary shedding, roads, laneways, and the application includes a dwelling, which all reduce the amount of land on which the birds can roam to qualify as 'free range'.

FRFA also asked the Council to establish how much of the land will be accessed by the hens every day and impose a permit limit on the number of hens to meet the requirements of the Model Code. The stocking density proposed is likely to have serious off-site implications as a result of contaminated run-off.

The application is Planning Permit No P306142/10 To use and develop the land for intensive animal husbandry with caretaker's dwelling and to remove native vegetation. Goulburn Valley Highway, Seymour.

New solar hot water on the farm

We called Solahart to come and service the elderly solar hot water service on the farm cottage because it had stopped heating, They sent a plumber along and he fitted a new electric element but said it was pointless carrying out a service as the unit was useless. Not surprising really as we installed it nearly30 years ago. (Solahart still tried to charge us for a full service)

The newly installed Solahart unit

Anyway we got him back a week or so later to install a new system - or rather a second hand one as the casing had been damaged by hail and was an insurance write-off.

While he was here, I asked him to look at the solar unit on our main farmhouse - and that was a mistake.

The evacuated tube solar hot water system on our main house.
It's apparently the most efficient system there is -
but we are not convinced! 

It's an evacuated tube system which had a slight  water leak, so I always turned the water off to it unless we were using it for showers etc.  When he left, the leaks were worse than before he arrived, so I wish I had kept my mouth shut!!!

I'll now have to clamber around on the roof trying to reduce the leaks

As we are now heading into cold weather we need hot water - but we don't want to increase our energy consumption or our carbon footprint.

Get ready for the next round of financial turmoil

Most individuals and businesses don't spend a lot of time thinking about the global economy - after all that's what we pay our politicians and accountants for.

But the ramifications of corporate greed and political incompetence hits us all. Anyone with money in a superannuation fund, investments in the stock market, property, or simply in the business they are running, is vulnerable to problems in international financial markets.

The soaring price of gold is a stark indicator of a loss of confidence in currencies.

On Wednesday, November 3, 2010, Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a second round of quantitative easing (QE2) to stimulate the economy. The plan was to purchase $600 billion of U.S. Treasury securities by the middle 2011. It was just after the November 2, 2010 General Election, and most of the world missed it because the election dominated the headlines.

For those of us who aren't sure what 'quantitative easing' means, here's Wikipedia's definition:

Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional monetary policy used by some central banks to stimulate their economy when conventional monetary policy has become ineffective. The central bank buys government bonds and other financial assets, with new money that the bank creates electronically, in order to increase the money supply and the excess reserves of the banking system.

This allowed the U.S. Government to authorise the Treasury Department to print money. No real currency has actually been printed, but the Federal Reserve has been able to electronically credit each commercial bank, allowing them to buy maturing U.S. bonds and treasury notes as part of their liquidity reserves. The Federal Reserve started this even before the financial meltdown of 2008, a policy which is plunging the US (and the rest of the world) into a financial disaster which is likely to last for decades..

As well as the $600 billion quantitative easing announced last November, the Federal Reserve announced that it was "reinvesting" an additional $250 billion to $300 billion from the proceeds of its mortgage portfolio in U.S. Treasury securities - a total injection of about $900 billion.

If at some stage, the Federal Reserve concludes that the U.S. economy is not growing fast enough, and decides more quantitative easing is needed, a third round may begin and then we can all kiss economic stability goodbye! Many economists believe that the Federal Reserve is already out-of-control and that the global economic system is heading for disaster.

The sad thing is that the Federal Reserve seems to believe that the policy has been working.

Accumulated problems within the U.S. economy after many years of neglect, inaction and excessive spending on pointless wars, have now been aggravated by turmoil in the Middle East and natural disasters on a scale which is mind-boggling.

From November 2008 to March 2010, the Federal Reserve bought more than $1.7 trillion in mortgage backed securities and treasury bonds. Through its quantitative easing policy, it created a portfolio of U.S. bonds and notes purchased from banks totalling more than $2.5 trillion by the March 2011. Some critics see the rising price of oil and other commodities as indicators of broader price increases which are set to spiral out of control as the U.S. risks heading into hyper-inflation territory..

Some believe that the Federal Reserve strategy may have helped stabilise the economy in the short-term, but unemployment still remains high (8.8% at the end of March 2011). Monthly U.S. home sales are still close to record low levels. New construction is also at historic lows. Banks tightened their credit criteria and have not been not lending much. As at January 2011, American banks had excess reserves of $1 trillion as customers borrowed less and  bankrupcy rates increased.

Foreign countries are balking at U.S. government's quantitative easy policies, and the U.S. will either have to start paying higher interest rates on government debt in order to attract enough investors, or the Federal Reserve will just have to drop all pretence and permanently start buying up most of the debt. Either way, the financial world will never be the same.

Webcam view of 'free range' egg production

Major egg producer, Sunny Queen has set up a webcam to show hens on one of its 'free range' farms.
The site can be accessed at:
 http://www.sunnyqueen.com.au/eggcam/

Unfortunately the quality is not good enough to see whether or not the birds are de-beaked or beak trimmed, but because of the scale of the company and its operations, they almost certainly are beak trimmed.
Sunny Queen is represented on the board of the Australian Egg Corporation which is trying to push through a new standard to define 'free range' egg production to allow up to 20,000 birds per hectare.
I bet Sunny Queen won't be too keen to show the results of a stocking density like that.

Jinma - worst tractors in the world?

I think it's a bit rough to call the Chinese Jinma tractors the worst in the world. They certainly don't measure up to a Case, John Deere, Fendt - or even a Fiat. But they don't cost that much either.

In this world, the best you can hope for is generally to get what you pay for.
I've had quite a few different tractors on the farm and as a basic workhorse, my Jinma 354 is OK (for a cheapie). The biggest problem with our unit was the hydraulics. They didn't work properly from day one. The controller for the front end loader was replaced a couple of weeks after delivery because of a manufacturing fault, fluid leaks continued unabatedfor three years.
We used at least $100 of hydraulic fluid every year because of leaks in the system. Mechanics who come to fix it say 'Oh it's Chinese. That's what they do.'
Then at last we mnaged to get it fixed. Apart from the cost of the leaking hydraulics, the only other big gripe was the rear hydraulic lift but that has now also been fixed.  The front end loader works great I must admit that a few choice words have passed my lips about my Jinma - but then I think .... I should have paid $50,000 for a tractor instead of $20,000.
It does a great job  pulling our mobile chicken sheds around the paddocks - and as that's its primary purpose, it scrapes by as 'not the worst tractor in the world.'

World Egg Day in October

Every year on the second Friday in October, it's World Egg Day, a campaign developed by the International Egg Commission to promote the consumption of eggs.This year it's October 14 and there will be a range of events here in Australia as well as around the rest of the world.
Here's the link for more info:
http://www.thinkegg.com/worldeggday.asp#
Now that medical researchers have come to their senses and recognised that eggs are good for us (even the Heart Foundation has given eggs the tick of approval), eggs are being included as part of a healthy diet.
My favorites are poached and scrambled, but I like eggs any way - as long as they are free range.The nutritional value and taste are far superior to eggs produced on factory farms. Those intensive facilities which call themselves 'free range' but debeak (or beak trim) their birds should also be classed as factory farms, because the hens cannot forage properly. They can generally only eat feed provided for them in pans or trays - so the eggs they lay are nutritionally identical to cage laid eggs where the chickens can only eat that same food. Genuine free range birds with full beaks are able to supplement their diet by eating worms, spiders, grasshoppers etc  - all the things they are supposed to eat and which add to the nutritional value of their eggs.

Here's one Chinese treat you could try to celebrate World Egg Day: Thousand Year Eggs Take a dozen or so raw chook eggs and add a few ingredients, including ash, salt, clay and lime. Then, bury the whole eggs in the ground (a pot filled with soil will do) for a thousand years or so (the recipe calls for 100 days). Then, dig them up and munch away. Both the white and yolk will have a grayish, dark colour. The yolk will have a green hue or tint. Some find the grayish green yolk unattractive (I can't think why).
I'll defnitely pass on that. But if anyone wants to give it a go, please let me know how you went!!!

Chefs have great difficulty finding real free range eggs

There's an excellent article about the difficulty in finding real free range eggs by chef Sebastian Carosi, published in the US newspaper, Rappahannock News.
Here's some of his article.

Good eggs are hard to come by — harder than you may think. It seems you can find chicken and eggs labeled “organic” and “free range” in just about any grocery store these days, packaged in bucolic images of rolling green hills and red barns. That is almost never the reality, even among these supposedly humane alternatives.
A chicken fed organic feed in a confinement barn with a tiny dirt yard does not represent ethical or sustainable farming. With this said, I guess that it all depends on how lazy the farmer is . . .
If said farmer does not let his barnyard birds out of the coop until noon, chances are the hens’ laying boxes will be full of quality eggs. But, if said chickens are let out to pasture, the said “lazy farmer” must start the process of finding and gathering all of the eggs that the hens have deposited around the yard, and carefully get them to the barn or kitchen to wash.
Pastured eggs are seasonal — the hens lay less as the days get shorter. In industrial confined egg operations they use artificial lights and a horrible practice called forced molting to overcome this. That means that starting in October, egg production declines and by November, may be half what it is in the summer. However, while the ladies are resting and not earning their keep, they are eating even more expensive grains because of the cold weather. That’s another reason why pastured eggs cost more.

Not everything he says is entirely accurate - for example our hens are never locked up in their sheds and yet the vast majority of them lay their eggs in nest boxes. We don't have to find the eggs in the 'yard' (or paddock in our case) and we never need to wash our eggs -because they aren't dirty.
You can read the rest at:
http://www.rappnews.com/2011/04/21/add-freedom-to-your-eggs/14499/

We have asked the William Angliss catering school in Melbourne to consider including farm visits to different egg production facilities so budding chefs can understand the different production systems and see why the qualityof eggs varies.

Feeding the world

There's nothing new under the sun. The world's major corporations are trying to tell us that genetically modified plants, artificial fertilisers, pesticides and factory farming techniques are essential if we are to feed the world in the coming decades.

We are told that the population explosion means that we must embrace ever-more intensive practices.

Possibly one of the first population explosions experienced in our relatively modern world happened after the agrarian revolution in England.

Thomas Malthus (1766 – 1834), a British economist was the first to point out that the advent of scientific agriculture had not solved all mankind's problems, indeed it only increased them.

While new methods allowed food production to increase in arithmetical progression (where the increase is measured by addition), population increased in a geometrical progression (where the increase is measured by multiplication).

His worst predictions were realised by 1792, which was the last time there was a surplus of English wheat for export.

Ever since, Great Britain has been a food importer. Successive British governments tried to hold the empire together to ensure food security, but everyone is aware that England is an island and if anything happens to stop imports of food, the population faces starvation.

Our Australian politicians are even less bright. They don't seem to worry much about food security. Their priorities have been about fighting wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan - anywhere really. After all it's not them who put their lives on the line. 

Let's get back to the village community, where we produce what we need to support ourselves.

If you'd like to see more of Thomas Malthus' views, have a look at:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/thomas-malthus-theory-of-population.html

RSPCA standard not much better than the Egg Corp

The RSCPA's free range egg standards are almost as much of a consumer con as the current standards of the Egg Corp Assured program and the new standards being proposed by the Australian Egg Corporation.

At least the RSPCA imposes a maximum outdoor stocking density of 2,500 hens per hectare, if a rotational grazing system is able to maintain fodder cover.

The AECL acknowledges that under its current system, some farms are running up to 50,000 chickens per hectare.

Under the new version of the Egg Corporation standards, it proposes to limit stocking density to a maximum of 20,000 birds per hectare.

Both the AECL and the RSPCA allow beak trimming of birds.

The standards of the Free Range Farmers Association limit outdoor stocking density to 750 birds per hectare and beak trimming or de-beaking is prohibited.

The Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals – Domestic Poultry only allows beak trimming as a last resort if other management methods have failed to prevent feather pecking or cannibalism in a flock. It imposes a maximum outdoor stocking density of 1500 birds per hectare, but does allow a higher level if pasture growth can be maintained. It doesn't specify an upper limit and it's that loophole which is exploited by some intensive farms and allows them to get away with massive overstocking. No-one enforces the requirements.

Losing top soil

Last year, the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service estimated that the rate of soil erosion on agricultural land averaged only 5.2 tons per acre per year in Iowa and 3.9 tons per acre per year across the Corn Belt. On the surface, this data was reassuring, because it suggested erosion was within the so-called “sustainable rate.” But a more precise look udertaken through a project run by Iowa State University shows that these statewide or regional estimates are masking the serious damage that occurs when larger storms hit.
“When a storm hits vulnerable or poorly protected soil, fields lose more soil in a single day than is supposed to be sustainable for the whole year, or even decades,” said the University's program head. “If we had the same kind of information for other intensive corn-growing states, the picture would be the same or worse. Alarm bells should be going off across the Corn Belt.”
Farmers are planting fencerow-to-fencerow in response to high crop prices that are likely here to stay. Misguided mandates for corn ethanol production add fuel to the fire, and flawed government farm and insurance subsidies clear the way for all-out production with little regard for what happens to the soil, water and wildlife habitat.
We don't get subsidies in Australia, but there is no reason to believe that things are any better here.
More details at:
http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20110413_soil-erosion-in-corn-belt-much-worse

What's really in an egg?

Quite apart from the colouring additives that most egg farms use in the feed they give to their hens, now farms are being urged to add a fly control agent, cyromazine to the feed. It is recommended to use it every day for four to six weeks, then break for a similar period before starting the cycle again.

There is a three day withholding period for meat birds, so they should not be fed the additive for three days prior to slaughter (which is usually when they are around six weeks old). But there is no withholding period for eggs!

Interestingly, manure from hens which have fed this insecticide, should not be spread on land used for growing vegetables at rates greater than four tonnes per hectare.

Hmmmm.

Milking the cash cow

We agree totally with comments by Paul Kerin from the Melbourne Business School on the reaction of some suppliers (especially the factory egg farmers and the Australian Egg Corporation) to the supermarket price war.
His comments can be seen here:
http://www.theage.com.au/business/milking-the-cash-cow-20110404-1cym0.html

Aust Egg Corp is a bigger threat to farmers than the supermarkets

Free range farmers throughout Australia have lodged a submission with the Senate Inquiry into supermarket discounting. We reckon that the big players who are complaining about Coles' decision to cut their margins  on home brand eggs are only whingeing because of their own greed.

Here's part of the submission from FREPAA Inc.

The Free Range Egg and Poultry Association of Australia Inc., is a national body directly representing free range egg farmers in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Our members are required to meet all State and Federal legislative requirements and the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals – Domestic Poultry provides the basis for minimum animal welfare compliance.

Each State affiliate maintains its own standards and auditing procedures.

Our members are concerned that current complaints by the Australian Egg Corporation Ltd. over the actions of Coles Supermarket in cutting the price of its home brand 'free range' eggs have been designed to divert attention from AECL's own actions.

It is disingenuous for the egg corporation to claim that price cutting by Coles will damage the industry and reduce consumer choice.

The free range egg industry is under far more serious threat from AECL's plans to introduce new standards to allow intensively farmed eggs to be labelled as 'free range'.

A new set of standards has been developed which ignores the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals – Domestic Poultry and all international standards. It seeks to allow an increase in farm stocking densities from1500 birds per hectare to 20,000 hens per hectare and to approve the automatic de-beaking or beak trimming of hens.

If this proposed standard is approved, it will open the door for intensive poultry farms to mislead consumers by labelling their eggs as 'free range'. They are keen to do this as it will enable them to charge a premium without incurring significantly higher costs.

This threat is far more serious for the industry throughout Australia than any decision by a supermarket to reduce the price of a home brand product.

There is no compulsion on AECL members or other egg producers to supply eggs for the generic lines marketed by Coles, Woolworths or any retailer. It is clearly an option for egg producers to follow the lead set by Fosters and refuse to supply their product if they are unhappy with the price for which their goods are being sold.

Discerning egg buyers are already suspicious of eggs sold in supermarkets and they are aware that it is extremely unlikely that any eggs sold for $4.00 a dozen could really be what consumers understand as 'free range'.

The proposal by the Australian Egg Corporation Ltd to adopt a new standard has the potential to damage the credibility of egg farmers and is likely to destroy consumer confidence in an industry which has already undergone major problems with egg substitution and deliberate mislabelling.

Fight over the name Egg Standards Australia

This could be the new logo and trade mark for the updated version of the Australian Egg Corporation's quality assurance program.
AECL claimed that all the paperwork was with the ACCC, but that was denied by the ACCC. There have been a number of objections to the proposed name and trade mark application and all the paperwork is still with IP Australia which says it is unlikely to make any decision before 2012.
It seems that Standards Australia will not be happy with the proposed name as it clearly implies that the standard has been developed by Standards Australia when it really is just an industry proposal cobbled together by a private company - the Australian Egg Corporation Ltd.
In its latest newsletter, AECL says that the new standards, logo and trade mark should be ready for approval by the Board in April (next month) and will be revealed to AECL members in May.
We somehow doubt that timeframe will be met. All previous deadlines have been missed and if this application isn't processed until next year, it will be back to the drawing board for the AECL!

Big Berkley died today

Goodbye Berkley

Our beautiful big Berkley died today in one of the chook paddocks. He was the biggest of our Maremmas and was such a good natured dog.
He was around nine years old which is getting on for a Maremma. We were given him when he was around 15 months old because he had outgrown his suburban home. He weighed just on 60 kilos when we picked him up and could hardly walk because he was so fat.
He soon got into shape and had great fun chasing around with the other dogs and watching for foxes. But all he every really wanted to do was come in the house and stretch out in front of the open fire!
He had great eyesight and enjoyed gazing up at passenger jets cruising across the sky. It was just as much fun jumping up and grabbing some eucalyptus leaves as he walked down the drive with us.
Even though he had slimmed down, he was still a big dog and it took around three hours to dig a hole big enough for him.
Goodbye mate.We will miss you.

Egg Corp still can't get its new standard up

The Australian Egg Corp wanted to get its new bodgy egg standard up and running by December 2010 - then it was January 2011, then February/March - now the latest missive from Egg Corp says it won't be revealed to members until May!
Could it be that they have encountered massive problems getting the standard past its own Technical Advisory Committee? They may also be having problems with Standards Australia as well as JAS-ANZ and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Long may it last.
This is the latest info sent out to Egg Corp members:

The TAC met for two days last week with the aim of finalising the content of the proposed egg QA Standard. Due to the volume of discussion and critique of the current content by TAC members, this task was not completed as hoped. Therefore, the TAC is required to meet for another sitting in April to complete the task bestowed upon them.



As a guideline, currently it is anticipated that the egg QA Standard will be presented to the AECL Board at the April meeting for review. Pending a successful outcome, the Standard will then be launched to egg producers in May.


The egg standard program Rules are still with the ACCC hence the new name and logo for the Standard are yet to be confirmed and subsequently made available to egg producers.
 
It seems that AECL is trying adopt the name 'Egg Standards Australia' for its new QA program. It seems highly unlkely that such a name will be approved as it will clearly mislead consumers.

Eggs are one of the healthy foods

Eggs have received a bad reputation over the years. Every now and then they are declared to be a healthy, wholesome food and then they are blamed for raising cholesterol. Now, eggs are once again in vogue - which demonstrates that 'expert' advice depends on which 'expert' you listen to.

It's clear that eggs are not eggs. Free Range Eggs are not just any eggs. Free range eggs are enjoying greater attention now because customers realise that farmers like us, who raise the hens in the traditional way, allowing them to roam over pasture without confining them in sheds or cutting off their beaks so they can't forage properly, are producing food which meets their nutritional and ethical requirements.

There is now a heap of evidence about the health benefits of eating real free range eggs compared with the cage counterparts or eggs from the equivalent intensive 'free range' systems. As a result some factory farm operators, supported  by their industry bully (sorry body) are doing everything they can to close us all down.

Unfortunately there is also some mis-information out there suggesting that yolk colour is the only guide for genuine free range eggs. Some say: 'crack a free range egg in one bowl and a normal farm factory egg in another. Compare the appearances of the eggs to one another. The yolk of the free range egg is a deep vibrant yellow-orange colour whereas the factory egg is a wimpy yellow colour.'

It would be great if it was that simple. However it's all too easy to manipulate yolk colour. Chemical companies make  large profits from selling colouring additives to egg producers to ensure 'a deep vibrant yellow-orange colour' in the yolk. Probably all the cage and barn laid eggs produced in Australia are laid by hens which are fed colouring additives.

In the natural environment, the colour differentiation is due to the high beta carotene content in the free range yolk – over six times more than factory eggs, unless the feed includes colouring. Natural beta carotene, also known as vitamin A, is just one of many benefits free range eggs offer consumers. However, yolk colour should vary, depending on what the birds eat. If your egg yolks are always the same you are eating additives.

Vitamin D and E Benefits and More

The USDA has measured the nutrients in free range eggs and has found that the vitamin D levels were as much as six times higher than the average in factory eggs! Eggs are one of the few natural ways to obtain vitamin D through food sources. The vitamin E levels were almost four times the average of factory eggs. Vitamin D and vitamin E are both essential nutrients for optimal brain, heart, skin and immune system operation.

There are other benefits of free range eggs too. For instance, they have 33% less cholesterol than their factory farm egg counterparts. In addition, there is 25% less saturated fat and two times the average omega three fatty acids. Just eating two free ranges eggs could virtually satisfy the minimum daily requirements for vitamin D.

Another myth is that the viscosity of the egg white is always an indication of the freshness of an egg. It's true that a runny white is often an indication of staleness - but that's not always the case. Diet can have an impact on the albumen and so can the age of the hen.  As hens get older, the eggs whites can become more runny even when they have just been laid , which is one reason most farms get rid of their hens at the end of the first laying deason.

Why Free Range Eggs are Best

Free range chickens are allowed to roam freely eating insects and grass throughout the day.  They are constantly exposed to daily sunshine and fresh air.

When chickens are allowed to roam freely, their eggs are more nutritious because they are allowed to eat food with nutritional value like the green grass and bugs. This produces omega 3 rich eggs, plenty of vitamins and less cholesterol and saturated fat. The great news is that free range eggs have no more calories than the average factory farm egg but do have three or more times the nutritional value.

Factory farm hens do not have a varied diet. They can only eat what is provide in the farm's automatied system - the same day in and day out.

Food from grass-fed animals is best for your health

Research on essential fatty acids has only been available for a few years and it really hasn't been getting the press it deserves. The main results of the research shows that by concentrating animal feeds using grains, instead of grasses, our corporate feed producers have manipulated the food chain so much that degenerative diseases are now a greater part of our future.

This is because our essential fatty acids, which control myriad bodily functions, fall into two families: the Omega-3's and the Omega-6's. The Omega 3 group comes from the leaves of green plants (and plankton in the ocean), while the Omega 6 group comes from seeds, such as grain used in animal feeds. Animals that eat quantities of green plants have very high levels of Omega 3 which are not seen in animals fed largely on grain.

Ideally, we should have about equal amounts of Omega 3 and Omega 6 in our bodies, or at maximum, not much more than twice the Omega 6 as Omega 3. But many Australians have ten times more Omega 6 than Omega 3 – a result of the widespread use of grains in fattening cattle.

The way we can all rectify this imbalance is to only eat animal products raised on grass. Don't buy grain fed beef raised in feedlots, don't buy farmed fish which has been fattened on grain and don't buy eggs from caged hens, those in barns, or so-called 'free range' hens which have been beak trimmed.

If the tips of the hens' beaks have been cut off, they can't eat grass, worms and the bugs which form a vital part of their natural diet. They can only eat the feed provided for them in automated feeding systems - which is exactly the same diet as hens in cages.

So only buy eggs from farms which are accredited by the Free Range Farmers Association – it's the only way you can be sure that the eggs really are free range.

If you would like a bit more info just ask, or check out this link:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Grass-Fed-Beef-Delivers-Omega-3-Oil&id=1454458

Quiet hens roaming on pasture

Early morning with the chooks  -  and Angus


There's plenty of grass around this year. We've had a tremendous season so far and the chooks have maintained around a 90% lay rate for most of the summer.
Right now, with the latest batch of pullets we have 1200 hens on the farm - so that's keeping us pretty busy.

Who said chooks can't fly?

Here's Myrtle, hurtling through the air looking for a soft landing in the grass!!!  She can fly at least 100 metres in level flight and around 20 metres vertically.

Most very young hens (pullets) can fly well because of their low body weight and they frequently fly up into trees (at least they do here). But this is a mature bird who loves to fly.

She not quite able to soar with the eagles, but she wouldn't stand for the sort of nonsense on Mrs Tweedy's farm in the film Chickenrun.

Maybe we should enter her in a competition adjudicated by the Guiness Book of Records.

De-beaking still widespread - even on 'free range' farms

The de-beaking, or beak trimming of chicks is still widespread in Australia. It has been estimated that more than 95% of the hens in this country have been beak trimmed by hot blade or laser equipment.
Even most so-called 'free range' farms de-beak their birds - because they are intensive systems where the birds are confined.

hot blade beak trimming

Laser trimming of chicks

On a true free range farm with stocking densities which meet the requirements of the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals - Domestic Poultry (that is a maximum outdoor stocking density of 1500 birds per hectare) beak trimming is completely unnecessary. If the Australian Egg Corporation succeeds in implementing a new standard for free range production which allows a stocking density of 20,000 birds per hectare, it will also allow beak trimming as a matter of course.

It's only when hens are confined in large numbers that beak trimming can be regarded as 'necessary' on welfare grounds or any other basis.  With proper management, beak trimming is not required and indeed quite a number of countries have already banned the practice.
There's more on alternatives to beak trimning at
http://www.poultryhub.org/chicken-meat-industry/beak-trimmingalternatives-to-beak-trimming/
As I've said here many times, the only way buyers can be sure that eggs are really free range, is to look for the logo of the Free Range Farmers Association. If your supplier is a member of FRFA, you know that the farm meets the most strict standards in the industry. Far more welfare friendly than RSPCA standards which approve the de-beaking of hens. 

The current fuss over Coles decision to drop the price of its home brand 'free range' eggs is quite funny really, as the eggs labelled as 'free range' are produced on intensive farms where the hens are de-beaked - they do not meet consumer expectations.  









Scientists have 'discovered' that chickens are capable of empathy

In yet another example of strange research, scientists have come up with the remarkable conclusion that chickens are capable of feeling empathy!

They seemed to believe that only humans have emapthatic tendancies. They obviously haven't observed the concerns a cow has for a calf which is in pain, or a bitch for a dying pup, or one of our guardian dogs for a hen or sheep which is in trouble.

Who funds these turkeys!!!!!
If you can be bothered, have a look at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8370301/Chickens-are-capable-of-feeling-empathy-scientists-believe.html

Economics is a dirty word

Ben Bernanke

I've been farming for thirty years, but before that I was a finance journalist and it was interesting uncovering the greed of our leading corporate citizens and the stupidty of people involved in running our economic systems.

Every day it seems to be increasingly clear that world economies are facing collapse. The current unrest in arab countries is just one example – and there are serious implications for us all.

Once the major economies went off the gold standard (effectively rejecting the notion that a nation's currency should be underpinned by gold reserves), the rot set in.

The helter-skelter of boom and bust was inevitable with each crash likely to be bigger than the last. Governments tried to maintain growth by fiddling with taxes, introducing crocks like compulsory superannuation and diverting the population by the old trick of starting wars whenever they felt like it, but the costs were always greater than the benefits which were achieved (leaving aside the human pain and suffering).

The recent 'Global Financial Meltdown' caused by corporate greed and government inaction will pale into insignificance when the next crunch happens – and it could be anytime.

When the United States dollar loses its status as the world's reserve currency, its frantic printing of dollar bills and its overwhelming debt levels will lead to an ugly exchange rate. The result will be hyper-inflation on commodities such as food and there are likely to be yet more revolutions in the world!

Going back through thousands of years of economic history there is clearly one fact: No country has ever printed its way to prosperity, all who have tried have wound up with hyperinflation, war or have simply slipped into oblivion (sometimes all three).

With someone like Ben Bernanke pulling the financial strings in the US, the outcome is inevitable and unfortunately the US collapse will take the rest of the world with it.

It will probably take 20 years for some kind of order to be re-established and unquestionably it will be a very different world to the one we know.

Things like tax-effective accounting, margin loans, derivative debt, tax havens, market mechanisms, the economic imperative, negative gearing, futures trading, deficit spending and corporate greed will be seen as some of the evils which brought the empire down.

The only economy which has succeded long term is the village economy. Happy to talk to you anytime if you'd like more info..

Meat producers and Australian Egg Corporation strange bedfellows

It's hard for egg producers to understand why the Australian Egg Corporation has squealed so much about the decision by Coles to cut the price of its home brand 'free range' eggs.


Surely Coles has a right to determine its pricing structures? And it's entirely up to suppliers if they want to sell anything to Coles.

Now the AECL, using the Australian Egg Industry Association as a vehicle, has formed a coalition with Australian Dairy Farmers and the Cattle Council of Australia, to submit an application to the Australian Farmers’ Fighting Fund administered by the National Farmers’ Federation, to undertake joint action against Coles Supermarkets for what they say is 'their immoral and unethical treatment and lack of regard for Australian agriculture'.

What a load of cobblers!

The meat guys are upset at the Coles decision to only sell beef free of hormone growth promotants – seen by many as a sensible and very welcome move. Soon after Coles made that announcement, the meat industry went into damage control, claiming that hormone growth promotants used in the beef industry were always safe and did not have any impact on human health.

Meat and Livestock Australia quickly produced information on HGPs claiming that people would have to eat 77kg of HGP-treated beef to consume the same amount of hormones that can be found in one egg!

If the meat industry is kicking the egg industry, what does AECL think it's doing joining forces with them to attack Coles for making a business decision which makes sense for consumers?