New pullets have settled in

Our latest batch of Isa Brown pullets has settled in, and the girls like their protector, Bella the Maremma (which is just as well) ! This is a flock of 350, or 340 now as we sold 10 to the Rhyll Trout Farm on Phillip Island.

We often sell off a few of point of lay pullets as long as we have enough for our own egg production. The plan is that this flock will start laying in a couple of weeks and will quickly get into full production to help meet demand. Then in November, a flock of 200 will arrive and hopefully we will be able to cope with demand over the December/January holiday period.

It's probably a forlorn hope, as demand always outstrips supply - especially if really hot weather kicks in early.

Egg Standards Australia delayed

The Australian Egg Corporation is still plugging away, trying to get its discredited Egg Standards Australia program up and running - but its timeline is now very short.

 

The AECL Board has missed every deadline set for introducing the new standard, and it doesn't look like it will meet its latest September deadline!

 

It will make for an interesting Annual Meeting in Sydney in November if the program isn't in operation before then.

 

As all egg producers know, the Scottish Agricultural College denied claims by the Australian Egg Corporation that its research backed Egg Corp plans for free range stocking densities to be lifted to 20,000 hens per hectare.

Dr Victoria Sandilands, head of the SAC's Avian Science Research Centre said: “If AECL think that 20,000 hens/hectare is acceptable outdoors, then it would be too far a stretch to say this is based on our work. This alteration would need considerable research on what is acceptable outdoors to back it up.

The research involved placing different numbers of hens in pens inside a windowless room to check on patterns of behaviour.

It concluded that any space allowance of less than about 5000 cm2 per hen imposed at least some

constraint on free expression of behaviour.

Far from suggesting that this meant that 2 birds per square metre was an acceptable outdoor density – it meant that stocking density in cages and sheds should be no more than 2 birds per square metre instead of the currently allowed 14 - 15 birds per square metre.

 

If the Egg Corp interprets the Scottish research accurately, it will throw the industry into chaos.

Food security nightmare

Adapted from an article by Lester Brown of Earth Policy Institute

Food security is emerging as a massive threat to the world’s population. Unsustainable farming practices are making the problem worse.

At a time when the world’s farmers are facing a record growth in food demand, they continue to wrestle with the traditional threats to production such as soil erosion. But now they are also looking at three new challenges on the production front. One, aquifers are being depleted and irrigation wells are starting to go dry in 18 countries that together contain half the world’s people. Two, in some of the more agriculturally advanced countries, rice and wheat yield per acre, which have been rising steadily for several decades, are beginning to plateau. And three, the earth’s temperature is rising, threatening to disrupt world agriculture in scary ways.

The countries where water tables are falling and aquifers are being depleted include the big three grain producers—China, India, and the United States. World Bank data for India indicate that 175 million people are being fed with grain produced by overpumping. My own estimate for China is that 130 million people are being fed by overpumping. In the United States, the irrigated area is shrinking in leading agricultural states such as California and Texas as aquifers are depleted and irrigation water is diverted to cities.

Second, after several decades of rising grain yields, some of the more agriculturally advanced countries are hitting a glass ceiling, a limit that was not widely anticipated. Rice yields in Japan, which over a century ago became the first country to launch a sustained rise in land productivity, have not increased for 17 years. In both Japan and South Korea, yields have plateaued at just under 5 tons per hectare. China’s rice yields, rising rapidly in recent decades, are now closely approaching those of Japan. If China cannot raise its rice yields above those in Japan, and it does not seem likely that it can, then a plateauing there too is imminent.

A similar situation exists with wheat yields. In France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—the three leading wheat producers in Europe—there has been no rise for more than a decade. Other advanced countries will soon be hitting their glass ceiling for grain yields. Australia is no exception

The third new challenge confronting farmers is global warming. The massive burning of fossil fuels is increasing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, raising the earth’s temperature and disrupting climate. It is now in a state of flux. Historically when there was an extreme weather event—an intense heat wave or a drought—we knew it was temporary and that things would likely be back to normal by the next harvest. Now there is no “norm” to return to, leaving farmers facing a future fraught with risk.

High temperatures can lower crop yields. The widely used rule of thumb is that for each 1-degree-Celsius rise in temperature above the optimum during the growing season farmers can expect a 10-percent decline in grain yields. A historical study of the effect of temperature on corn and soybean yields in the United States found that a 1-degree-Celsius rise in temperature reduced grain yields 17 percent. Yet if the world continues with business as usual, failing to address the climate issue, the earth’s temperature during this century could easily rise by 6 degrees Celsius.

In recent years, world carryover stocks of grain have been, only slightly above the 70 days that was considered a desirable minimum during the late twentieth century. Now stock levels must take into account the effect on harvests of higher temperatures, more extensive drought, and more intense heat waves. Although there is no easy way to precisely quantify the harvest effects of any of these climate-related threats, it is clear that any of them can shrink harvests, potentially creating chaos in the world grain market. To mitigate this risk, a stock reserve equal to 110 days of consumption would produce a much safer level of food security.

Although we talk about food price spikes, what we are more likely starting to see is a ratcheting upward of food prices. This process is likely to continue until we succeed in reversing some of the trends that are driving it. All of the threatening trends are of human origin, but whether we can reverse them remains to be seen.

As food supplies tighten, the geopolitics of food is fast overshadowing the geopolitics of oil. The first signs of trouble came in 2007, when world grain production fell behind demand. Grain and soybean prices started to climb, doubling by mid-2008. In response, many exporting countries tried to curb rising domestic food prices by restricting exports. Among them were Russia and Argentina, two leading wheat exporters. Viet Nam, the world’s number two rice exporter, banned exports entirely in the early months of 2008. Several other smaller grain suppliers also restricted exports.
More about food security in Australia can be found here.

Dinner cruise on the Yarra

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

Help building our front fence

Students and teachers from the Victorian College for the Deaf in Melbourne returned to the farm yesterday to help collect eggs and lay out timber for our post and rail fence across the front of the property.

The rails and posts have been sitting in our front padock for ages, and we just haven't got around to doing it. Now all I have to do is dig the post holes and assemble the fence.

Some of the students and a teacher sorting out the fence posts.

Deaf students at the farm

We had a group deaf students on the farm yesterday to look at how we do things. We had a good time. The Victorian College for the Deaf does some great work. Have a look at their website:
http://www.vcd.vic.edu.au/

WA jumps on shonky 'free range' egg farmer

The WA Planning Commission has endorsed a decision by Swan Valley Council to order a so-called 'free range' egg producer to reduce his flock numbers to meet permit conditions. They also ordered him to pull down sheds which were built without approval.

Amazing what some blokes think they can get away with! This farm was approved by the Australian Egg Corporation and was accredited to its Egg Corp Assured program - even though it breached permit conditions which are required to be checked during the audit process. Compliance with permit conditions is supposed to be a requirement of the Egg Corporation accreditation process - but this case demonstrates that as far as the Egg Corp is concerned ... anything goes until you are caught!
Here's a report:  http://www.inmycommunity.com.au/news-and-views/local-news/No-free-range-for-egg-man/7630332/

Support from a NSW blogger

Here's a link to a NSW blog which doesn't think much of the big boys in the egg industry.
http://megaphoneoz.com/?p=1861

Egg stamping delayed in Victoria

The Victorian Government is giving egg producers two extra years before they have to comply with new Australia-wide egg- stamping requirements.

The delay has been welcomed by some egg producers but is condemned by others who saw the introduction of stamping as a good way to provide real traceability for eggs. It could help to restore confidence in an industry which has become dominated by shonky operators.

One of the arguments which some producers use is that the units cost around $30 000. But that is for sophisticated automatic ink jet systems installed on grading and packing machines. Simple 30 egg stampers are available at minimal cost to stamp a tray of eggs at a time, stampers for six at a time can be bought and individual stampers are available for very small operators.

The introduction of egg stamping will help make all eggs traceable through the supply chain - another step in eliminating egg substitution. Most egg producers support stamping - as long as it applies to everyone who sells eggs and is not just confined to those of us who do things properly! Backyarders generally have no understanding of food safety issues and are a real danger to the health of consumers. If they sell eggs, they should have to comply with the same regulations as the rest of us.

Victorian Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh said the delay would help Victorian farmers.

"It would give them more time to plan for and install the costly equipment needed to apply an identification stamp to every single egg, as mandated under new national food standards." Mr Walsh said.

He announced the special measure as part of the Primary Industries and Food Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 currently before Parliament.

"Whole supply chain food safety traceability of eggs from the farm to the kitchen is already provided by labels on cartons," Mr Walsh said.

"In the kitchen, a carton will provide greater traceback than rummaging in the garbage sorting through cracked egg shells." The legislation provides for the implementation of the new national egg food safety standards in Victoria.

But there is a two-year exemption from the requirement for farmers to individually stamp their property identification details on each egg shell.

"Asking farmers to purchase new eggshell-inking machines is a significant cost imposition with no proof it will improve food safety," Mr Walsh said.

There is still no indication how the actual identification mark will be determined for each farm. For example will members of the Free Range Farmers Association be allowed to use the Association logo and their farm roll number? Or will the Government allocate a number to each farm?

YouTube videos helping the fight

The Free Range Farmers Association has posted a few videos on its You Tube channel which will help fight the Australian Egg Corporation's plans for the industry. We just hope we can get some Government ministers to take action rather than simply sit around letting major corporations continue with wth 'industry self-regulation' which does nothing positive for family farms or for consumers.

The FRFA channel is:
 http://www.youtube.com/user/Freerangefarmers?feature=mhee

Australia's big egg producers could export rather than con consumers

Instead of disrupting the industry and trying to con consumers by culling hens to maintain higher prices and re-labelling intensively produced eggs as 'free range' why aren't Australia's major egg producers looking for marketing opportunities overseas?

America manages to do it. Egg exports from the United States are booming. In the month of June, table eggs exports were about 10 million dozen (up 67%) valued at $US8.1 million (up 54 %), thanks to larger shipments to Hong Kong and Angola. First-half table egg exports hit 49.6 million dozen (up 34%) valued at $US43.7 million (up 31%). Of the total, 79 percent or 39 million dozen were shipped to the top five export markets of Hong Kong, Canada, the U.A.E., the Bahamas and Angola.

Exports of processed egg products in June reached $11.3 million, up 20 percent over June 2011. Even though the export value to Japan decreased by 8 percent to $3.7 million, value of shipments to the EU increased by 42 percent to $US3.7 million, largely because of the lingering egg deficit in the EU. Cumulative export value of egg products in the first half of 2012 were $70 million, up 19 percent year-on-year. Exports to EU-27 increased by 120 percent to $26.7 million, accounting for 38 percent of U.S. total exports worldwide. Exports to Japan decreased by 25 percent to $21.8 million, accounting for 31 percent of U.S. total exports worldwide. While export value to South Korea decreased 24 percent year-on-year, export value to Canada and Mexico increased by 14 and 121 percent, respectively.

Total egg exports (table eggs plus egg products in shell egg equivalents) for the first half of 2012 were 122 million dozen, with an export value of $102.7 million, up 10 and 11 percent from the same period in 2011, respectively. Both export quantity and export value set annual records.

If the Yanks can do it, why can't our 'big boys' get off the backsides and get marketing !!

Guinea Fowl still making itself at home

The Guinea Fowl which appeared at the farm a little while ago is still here,  thinking that it is part of one of our flocks!

Trying blend in with the Isa Browns.

I'm not sure this is good biosecurity for the farm, but the Guinea Fowl seems happy.

Not only the American dream is in trouble

Greed and opportunism are widespread - it's not just corporate egg producers trying to con everyone.

This animation helps to demonstrate why whole economies are in deep strife!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=mII9NZ8MMVM&NR=1

New biosecurity sign for the gate

We have just organised a couple of biosecurity signs for the farm. One will go on the front gate and one will be used at the next set of gates to indicate to people that although we welcome visitors, we need to know they are coming.

The risk of spreading a variety of diseases to our hens is serious, particulary if families have chooks at home or even pet birds in aviaries.

Although all our hens are vaccinated against the most likely diseases they may encounter, it would be dumb to take risks.

Channel 10 looks at our farm

Channel 10's morning program The Circle broadcast a segment on our farm yesterday. Aaron Wood came to he farm to check out what we do.
Have a look at:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=340349432715959

Guinea Fowl came for a visit

The dogs and chooks kicked up a fuss today and we heard a strange noise in one of the paddocks.  A Guinea Fowl had come to visit!

We haven't seen one on the farm before and we have no idea where it's come from. Interesting bird, but it won't let me get close.

Treating the broken horn of a goat

Don't know how she did it, but Katie-Heidi, one of our Anglo-Nubian goats managed to break a horn a couple of days ago. I spoke to a mate who milks goats and has had them for years and he said to cut it off with embryotomy wire.
Like every good farmer, I had some in the shed, so I enlisted the help of my son Bryan and while he held poor Katie-Heidi, I cut off the offending horn.
Here' s a before shot:

And here's after surgery:

Tonight she came running up the driveway for feed to do battle with the chooks.

Our oldest maremma, Manola died today

Anne, with a frail Manola

Manola, the oldest Maremma on the farm, died today in the paddock with her sheep. I buried her close to the spot where she died, in the middle of the paddock and we will plant an oak tree alongside her.

She was a great dog who took her guardian work with the sheep very seriously. (She didn't care much about the chickens, but as long as her sheep were OK, she was happy).

Thunder disturbed her and she would often hide in a stable until the storm had passed. We thought she was going to die last year, when at 14, she had a urinary tract infection. Anne managed to fix that up with large doses of cranberry tablets, and we added cranberries to her diet most day since then.

She managed to last another year while she helped to train her understudy, Tora - who now has full responsibility for the sheep and the hens in her paddock.

Lowlines help to keep the grass down

We now have a couple of lowline cattle to help with lawnmowing!!

Egg Corp set to thumb its nose at the ACCC

In an article in today's West Australian newspaper, James Kellaway, managing director of the Australian Egg Corporation, is quoted as saying that the Egg Corp will introduce its controversial Egg Standards Australia 'even if ' its trade mark application is knocked back by the ACCC.

If that's the case, why did it bother to lodge the application in the first place?
Read the full article here:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/14163730/producers-consumers-cry-foul-in-egg-fight/

Refugee chooks doing well

600 hens from an egg farm in Tooradin - which was inundated by floodwater a couple of weeks ago are doing well here on the Freeranger farm.

We moved a couple of our old sheds into one of the paddocks and rigged some fencing around them and now they seem to be happy.

We don't know how long they will be here as refugees but it will probably be quite a while before they are able to go back home.

Egg Corp still trying to battle its way out of trouble

The Australian Egg Corporation has published another attempt to justify its Egg Standards Australia proposal.
It contains the mix of half truths and distortions which we have come to expect. Unfortunately some people believe them - thankfully not many in the industry and we hope that the ACCC won't be swayed like the Federal Minister for Agriculture and Government Ministers in NSW, Victoria and WA. Have a look at the document here   The AECL Statement has a number of inaccuracies.

•  AECL did carry out some consultation with the industry, but it ignored recommendations and proposals which did not fit its agenda.
•  The development process has not led to a well researched Quality Assurance program - there is little actual research which backs some of the proposed standards.
• It is more than lobby groups which are opposed to the implementation of Egg Standards Australia, it is also individual farmers working in the free range sector of the egg industry across Australia. The proposed stocking density is not the only aspect of the standard which is unacceptable to farmers. Other issues which are enshrined in the current Model Code are also ignored in the new standards – such as allowing free range chicks to range in the open once they are fully feathered and not permitting hens to be beak trimmed as a first option.
• There is no science behind the development of these standards for free range egg production. AECL has been unable to produce any evidence to show that its proposed stocking density is sustainable, that chicks should be locked in sheds until they are 25 weeks old (when currently they must have outdoor access from six weeks old) or the  beak-trimming at day old is an essential stock management tool.
• The proposed standards have been designed simply to meet the requirements of the supermarket chains and  maximise the profits of major corporations. If allowed to be implemented, they will mislead consumers and bring the industry into disrepute.

Good publicity in Tassie

This is adapted from today's Hobart Mercury.
Consumer watchdog Choice is calling for a unified standard for free-range eggs, to ease customer confusion.

And animals rights groups are calling on the State Government to follow the lead of Queensland to ensure there are not too many chickens crammed into free-range farms.

With no official standard for free-range eggs, guidelines are needed so consumers know exactly what they are buying when they purchase free-range eggs. Choice spokeswoman Ingred Just said "consumers are at real risk of being misled by businesses wanting to cash in on the premium a free-range product attracts.

"There’s no official national standard for free-range eggs and the label on the carton can have any number of meanings, depending on the producer." Ms Just’s comments follow an application from Australian Egg Corporation Ltd to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission requesting 20,000 birds per hectare be regarded as free range 13 times more than recommended numbers.

The recommended number is 1500 birds per hectare.

Animals Australia campaign director Lyn White called on the Tasmanian State Government to follow Queensland’s lead.

It has legislated for a freerange standard of 1500 birds per hectare.

"This will prevent those in the industry who see free range as a commercial opportunity, rather than a welfare necessity, from profiting from unacceptably high stocking densities," she said.

Free-range eggs make up nearly 40 per cent of all supermarket egg sales in Australia.

Primary Industries Minister Bryan Green yesterday said the State Government was still waiting for some advice on the issue.

Golden Free Range owner Steve Pavlides yesterday said free range eggs had been a closed industry for too long.

Mr Pavlides welcomed a possible unified national standard.

"Customers need some more awareness." he said.

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.

Servicing the egg delivery van

I took the Holden Combo delivery van in for its 30,000km service yesterday. Booked it in to a Holden dealership.
The service salesman did his usual stuff and convinced me that apart from the basic logbook service,brake fluid should be changed and the airconditioning checked and re-gassed. All extra costs of course.

Then an hour or so later I had a call to say that they thought the wiper blades should be replaced - at an additional cost of $90 because now it's not just a matter of replacing the wiper rubbers - the wiper arms come as a unit and the whole lot has to be changed. Anyway, I was a bit busy so I said OK.
My meeting finished earlier than expected, but the van wasn't scheduled to be ready for collection until 2 pm. I wandered past the dealer just after 11 am and could see the van parked outside.

It was still in the same position at 2 pm - so I could have picked it up at 11am - which would have been great. They had finished the service, but they didn't ring because they were waiting on the wipers to be delivered. When they finally arrived at around 2 pm - they were the wrong ones. I was asked if I wanted to wait while they got the proper ones in. I quickly declined that option !! They took the $90 off the $600 bill.

When I got into the van, there was a note about a tyre check hanging from the interior mirror. Their assessment was that the rear tyres were fine at least until the next scheduled service, but the tread on the front tyres indicted that they should be replaced prior to that service. The problem with that was that one of the front tyres was brand new. It had been the spare and was fitted for the first time about six weeks earlier following a puncture.

Talk about drumming up business !

Egg Corp on the run

For anyone who has missed it, full details of the Egg Corporation's Egg Standards Australia application to the ACCC can be found here:
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1060311/fromItemId/ACCC

There is still time to make a submission as the deadline has been extended.

The Egg Corporation has at last realised that it has a problem and is using spurious arguments to urge its members to make submissions. Quite a few already have sent in their concerns about the proposals because they realise the damage which the Australian Egg Corporation has caused the industry.

Many cage farmers recognise that the proposals put forward will only benefit the major supermarket chains and the corporate producers who control AECL.

Energy Globe website now has all the 2012 winners up

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

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

Card campaign on stocking density

As well as submissions, letters and signatures on petitions to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission urging it to reject the Egg Standards Australia proposal lodged by the Australian Egg Corporation, postcards are being distributed asking the NSW Government to support truth in labelling legislation.

A Bill has passed the Upper House and it's important to persuade the NSW O'Farrell Government to support the Bill in the Lower House.  If it gets up (and a similar Bill in the SA Parliament) it will stop the Egg Corporation from any further attempts to mislead consumers and damage the egg industry by allowing high density producers to describe their eggs as 'free range'.

We will have the postcards at the Coal Creek Farmers' Maket today, at Inverloch next week and at Churchill Island the following Saturday.

We are also making them available at several of the retail outlets in our region.

Egg Corp plans explained

The Free Range Farmers Association has set up a page on its website to explain the proposals on stocking density being pushed by the Australian Egg Corporation.
The page is at http://www.freerangefarmers.com.au/aecls-free-range-standards.html
and we urge all egg producers and consumers to contact the ACCC asking for the proposed Trade Mark and the Egg Standards Australia proposal to be rejected.
If the new standard is approved, the flow-on effects for the rest of industry will be significant and consumers will be totally unable to trust labels on egg cartons.

North Coast Voices: Let's hear it for the chickens! Greens urge Stoner to show leadership for free-range egg farmers

North Coast Voices: Let's hear it for the chickens! Greens urge Stoner to show leadership for free-range egg farmers

Fake eggs in China

Following some serious food contamination issues in China - including lacing milk with melamine to increase protein levels - fake eggs have now been discovered. Maybe it will give the Australian Egg Corporation ideas?
http://www.theranger.co.uk/news/China-investigates-fake-egg-scare_21738.html

BFREPA talks about AECL's deception

The British Free Range Egg Producers Association says that research carried out by the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) is at the centre of a war of words over attempts to introduce a huge increase in permitted external stocking densities on Australian free range egg units.
http://www.farminguk.com/news/Australian-stocking-density-battle-over-Scottish-Agricultural-College-research_23635.html

ABC 'AM' program talks about stocking densities

There was a good report today on ABC radio's AM program about the Egg Corporation's proposals and the results of a consumer survey by CHOICE.
Have a listen at:
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3514839.htm

The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and ABC Radio's Red Symons highlight the Egg Corporation's intensive plan

Have a look at the article in today's edition of The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald  at:
 http://www.theage.com.au/national/accc-seeks-comments-on-proposed-new-egg-standard-20120527-1zd26.html

and listen to Red Symons at:
http://blogs.abc.net.au/victoria/2012/05/red-and-those-free-range-eggs.html

ACCC calls for submissions

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is inviting comment on an application from the Australian Egg Corporation Ltd for new egg production standards - including its controversial high density standard for free range egg farms.

The Australian Egg Corp. has made an application to register a certification trade mark, including amendments to  Farm Standards for Egg Producers.

Among the things being considered by the ACCC are that:

the new standard would not be to the detriment of the public (the pubic detriment test); and
would be satisfactory having regard to the principles relating to restrictive trade practices in Part IV of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and the principles relating to unconscionable conduct (Part2-2), unfair practices (Part 3-1), and safety of consumer goods and product related services (Part 3-3) in Schedule 2 (Australian Consumer Law) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (the trade practices test)
Submissions are required by 20th June 2012 and can be lodged by email to adjudication@accc.gov.au

We urge anyone who is interested to send a submission to the ACCC.

What does free range mean?

Here's a video about what the terms 'cage free' and 'free range' mean. It was produced in the US, but it is just as relevent here in Australia  - especially with the intensive standards proposed by the Australian Egg Corporation.
http://www.pbs.org/food/features/the-lexicon-of-sustainability-the-story-of-an-egg/

Everyone involved in the egg industry (and consumers) need to squeal loudly at the AECL and at politicians to stop this insane proposal from being implemented. Email or write to AECL Board members and the Minister for Agricuture in your State if you think that 20,000 hens per hectare is not appropriate as a stocking density for free range egg production.

Very recent research conducted in Australia by respected researchers does not back the claims made by the Egg Corporation. If you want to see a copy of the research paper, contact the Free Range Farmers Association email freeranger (at) dcsi.net.au

RSPCA helps to keep pressure on AECL

The RSPCA has come out with strong opposition to the Egg Corporation's high density stocking plans even though it accepts beak trimming and a lift in stocking density from a maximum of 1500 hens per hectare to 2500.
The full story is in todays' Australian with a picture of a genuine free range farm and some comments by the owner, Vesna Luketic.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/rspca-steps-into-free-range-egg-row/story-e6frg6nf-1226356715868

Pushing the 'free range' barrow

Here's a new marketing tool we have started to use at the Farmers' Markets we attend. It was developed for Human Choice and is designed to raise awareness amongst consumers about the need to question the 'free range' claims made by some producers.

Freeranger Eggs now on Facebook

We have now set up a Facebook page for Freeranger Eggs, as well as Phil's Facebook Page. (I may discontinue that as most of the stuff I put there is about the farm anyway!)
The link is:
https://www.facebook.com/FreerangerEggs

Freeranger Eggs wins Energy Globe Award for Australia

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

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

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

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

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

 

Choice joins the egg fight

It's great that Choice has joined the fight against the Australian Egg Corporation plans to allow massive stocking densities on 'free range' farms.

It was also a kick in the teeth for AECL when the Scottish Agricultural College denied claims by the Egg Corp that its research backed the proposed stocking density standards.
http://www.superliving.com.au/lifestyle/cuisine/dining-outin/hens-per-hectare-rate-doesnt-add-up,-says-choice

State Governor visits Churchill Island

The Governor of Victoria, Alex Chernov, visited the Churchill Island Farmers' Market yesterday along with Ken Smith, the Parliamentary Speaker (and also our local MP).

I had quite a chat with Mr Chernov about the farm and the way we run things and he congratulated us on winning an international environmental award - the Energy Globe. It will be presented to us in Parliament House next Friday by the Austrian Consul General, Guido Stock.

What is the stocking density for free range hens?

An article in today's Brisbane Courier Mail puts the Egg Corp's proposals into clear perspective and explodes the arguments used for intensive stocking rates.
The Australian Egg Corp says the current recommendation of 1500 birds per hectare is unsustainable and that, if it is enforced, Australia will soon be forced to import eggs from nations that have animal welfare laws worse than ours.
This is from a corporation that claims chooks that deliver cage eggs are happy and healthy, and that anyone who claims otherwise is alarmist and extremist.
It warns that without greater stock density allowances, egg prices are set to rocket. Who is using scare tactics now?
So how is it that the rules on how chooks are housed and what "free range" means can be so flexible? Because apart from some basic animal welfare laws, there is no federal legislation on safe, sustainable and humane stock densities. The Government opts for self-regulation and recommended codes of practice, in this area at least.
But if the official egg industry service body can't manage labelling honesty, maybe it is time to legislate and give that legislation teeth. Consumers would also get certainty about what they are buying.
Queensland is a trailblazer as the only state with mandated 1500 birds per hectare. But that is only for eggs produced in the Sunshine State. Eggs on our supermarket shelves come from far and wide.
Several Queensland egg companies remain financially successful under the decade-old laws, flying in the face of AEC warnings about soaring prices if the 1500-bird recommendation is retained.
Read it all at:
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/cagey-labelling-is-egg-in-our-face/story-e6frerdf-1226332053641

The Free range debate on ABC TV Breakfast

The Free Range Farmers Association had a great session with ABC Breakfast, and the story was run later in the day on TV and radio throughout Australia.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-16/free-range-definition-to-rise/3952190

James Kellaway will be on the show on Tuesday morning trying to undo the damage with his usual spin. You have to feel a bit sorry for him, because he knows that what the Egg Corp is doing is unethical and just plain wrong - but he has to do what he is told by his Board which is controlled by the big corporations.

More on the AECL nonsense

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDOw-ut1Xto&feature=autoplay&list=ULvDOw-ut1Xto&lf=channel&playnext=134

Blast for AECL in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age

There were excellent articles today in the Sydney Sun-Herald and the Mebourne Age about the Australian Egg Corporation's absurd plans for the industry - aimed to deceive consumers.

Have a read at:
 http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/free-ranging-approach-to-obeying-code-20120414-1x0js.html

and complain to your local Member of Parliament - as well as the Minister for Agriculture in your State and the federal Minister, Senator Joe Ludwig. They really do need to get their fingers out!!!

Misleading labels deceive consumers

There's an excellent article about ethics, integrity and honesty in today's Weekly Times
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/04/11/467871_latest-news.html

Well done Les !

SA Minister for Agriculture may be joining the fight

The South Australian Minister for Agriculture, Gail Gago may support the Liberal/Greens Bill in Paliament to limit free range stocking densities to 1500 hens per hectare.
She is quoted in today's Adelaide Advertiser as saying: 20,000 hens per hectare was 'out of touch with public expectations'.

Great news from Minister Gago. Let's hope we can get the NSW Minister, Katrina Hodgkinson, to adopt the same stand.
Read the story at:
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/crack-down-on-free-range-egg-farms/story-e6frea6u-1226322235381?from=public_rss

This should help to scuttle the absurd stocking density proposal being pushed by the Australian Egg Corporation.

One third of all eggs labelled as 'free range' in Australia are from intensive farms - official industry figures

The Australian Egg Corporation has revealed that consumers are being conned on a massive scale. AECL's Communications Manager, Kai Ianssen has admitted that: '29% of free range egg production in Australia is sourced from farms that currently stock free range hens at densities greater than 2 birds per square metre (20,000 per hectare) and do comply to the Model Code of Practice. The egg industry wishes to address this erroneous situation.'

What an admission. So consumers are paying a premium for eggs which are identical to cheaper eggs from intensive farms alongside them on the supermarket shelves.

 Quite apart from the issue of consumer deception, the nutrient load from 20,000 hens per hectare is unsustainable. There are various estimates, but that figure represents a DSE of up to 800.

That quote from AECL should help the politicians see that the industry is incapable of self-regulation.

Liberals in SA help to stop egg consumer con

Liberal MP Michael Pengilly introduced a Bill to the South Australian Parliament this week to limit the stocking density of hens on free range egg farms to 1500 hens per hectare.

If the Bill gets up, and it should unless the Australian Egg Corporation's bullying tactics work, it will be the final nail in the coffin of the AECL plans to launch a new intensive standard for 'free range' production.

Read the Bill at:
http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/B/CURRENT/FOOD%20(LABELLING%20OF%20FREE-RANGE%20EGGS)%20AMENDMENT%20BILL%202012_MICHAEL%20PENGILLY%20MP/B_AS%20INTRODUCED%20IN%20HA/FOOD%20EGGS%20AMENDMENT%20BILL%202012.UN.PDF

Researchers battle over 'free range' behaviour

This article from the Armidale Express points out the misleading nature of research publshed last week by the University of  Sydney into stress levels in chickens:

RESEARCH at the University of New England into the freerange egg production system is taking a closer look at how chickens’ moods are connected to their desire to spend time outdoors.

Professor Geoff Hich from the UNE is leading research into new approaches on how we can assess the welfare of chickens, including measuring their emotional state, and motivational and behavioural tendencies.

Researchers will use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to identify hens that proportionally spend more time either indoors or outdoors.

Physiological and behavioural differences in the birds can then be examined.

Dr Hinch said part of the study involved determining the birds’ emotional welfare by examining their choices and whether they were optimistic or pessimistic.

"If a bird is feeling good about itself and it has to make a choice, it will usually err on the side of an optimistic choice," he said.

"If a bird is feeling bad about itself, it’s more likely to make a pessimistic choice.

"So we set up a situation where birds have to make a choice aud see if they make au optimistic or pessimistic choice." The project has been running for six months and currently includes 50 chickens.

A study released last week by Jeff Downing from the University of Sydney claimed that free-range chickens are not necessarily less stressed than their caged connterparts bnt Dr Hinch said this research was flawed.

The study, funded by the Australian Egg Corporation, measured levels of the stress hormone, corticosterone, in chickens on 12 farms using free range, barn or caged production systems. Dr Downing claims his results found that individual environmental factors are more likely to effect chickens’ stress levels than their production system.

Dr Hinch said the study did not take into account enough measurements of welfare for its findings to be conclusive.

"If the results are based purely on corticosterone measurements, I’m not sure I can take the study as an accurate result," he said.

We agree - the study was designed to achieve the results wanted by AECL.

Mad scientists producing synthetic meat - are eggs next?

Scientists have been working on this one for years. Growing meat from stem cells. Stem cells used from the slaughter house floor is what makes this scary. Just thinkwhere Mad Cow Disease started. Diseased meat leftovers being fed to cattle.

Some people argue that itwill save animal lives from the huge numbers that are slaughtered every year for human consumption. Others think it will keep starving nations of the world from dying of hunger. In 2003 the University of Western Australia was growing kidney-sized steaks from pig and lamb stem cells, with funding from NASA.

It takes just two weeks to grow pig stem cells into muscle fibers. Muscles that have never been used or worked out are a gooey mess of flesh and do not contain the fiberous tissue that we are used to eating. The idea is to stretch the tissue to move it back and forth, resembling the use of regular muscles on a live animal, to get the tissue to transform from flub.

Some multi-national restaurant chains are apparently already using this for "meat" in their chicken nuggets. The idea is that you can also add omega-3 and vitamins to the mix.

This lab-meat may arouse consumer opposition, so be on the look out for the big corporations and their "clever wording" usage, to describe it. Synthetic eggs may be next !! Read the labels.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4521851/would-you-eat-burgers-grown-in-petri-dish/

More on Stressed hens from ABC Radio's The World Today

A new study has cast doubt over whether free-range hens are happier and more stress-free than their caged counterparts.
Research funded by the Australian Egg Corporation has looked at the stress hormone levels in eggs produced at a dozen farms.
But the Free Range industry group has criticised the study, saying it is part of a push to change the classification of free range.
Dr Jeff Downing, from the University of Sydney, tested eggs from different farms across New South Wales over 12 weeks.
"What I found is that there was no difference between the different production systems," he said.
"But the interesting thing is there is a great deal of variation between individual farms using any particular production system.
"So it indicates to me that the challenges and the environment the hens are in on a particular farm probably has more influence on the stress levels they experience, rather than the type of production system they are in."
Dr Downing says stress levels were elevated in several situations across all three types of farms.
"This hormone is triggered by neural triggers, so the hen is challenged and the neural triggers are things like fear, anxiety, pain, and they trigger this hormone. So as these challenges increase, then the levels of this hormone increase," he said.
He says his research makes it a little more complicated for consumers to pick eggs at the supermarket.
"As a consumer, and I go and select eggs based on the production system, I don't think that gives me any guarantee that those hens have experienced less stress than those in another production system," he said.
"It's really what's happening on the individual farm that's probably more influential on the stress levels that they experience."
'Poor measure'
However RSPCA scientific officer Melina Tensen says the method used to test whether hens were stressed is flawed.
"Corticosterone is a poor measure of animal welfare. It sort of goes up and down during the day and it really depends on all sorts of things in the bird's environment," she said.
"You could see corticosterone as a level of excitement, either positive or negative, and if it's positive excitement, obviously the bird could be having fun, and if it's negative excitement, then obviously the bird is stressed.
"The overwhelming research looking at the welfare of birds in cages suggests that the hens definitely suffer in a caged environment."
The Free Range Egg and Poultry Association of Australia's president, Phil Westwood, has also cast doubts on the study.
He says the so-called free-range farms visited in Dr Downing's study were in fact not a true classification of free range.
"I don't disagree that probably the farm management has more importance than the actual production type; a well-managed farm is likely to have lower stress levels in the chooks," he said.
"But what this research doesn't show is that almost certainly the free range farms that were selected to take part in this study were actually intensive farms, so they wouldn't be farms that most consumers would regard as actually free range.
"They're running birds of maybe 20,000-30,000 birds per hectare. That is not a free range farm.
Mr Westwood says a free-range farm that meets the model code requirement has 1,500 birds per hectare.
"That allows the birds to display their normal behaviour practices. They can do the things that a chook normally does and they're not de-beaked or beak trimmed," he said.
Mr Westwood says the Egg Corporation is trying to change standards to allow 20,000 birds per hectare to be classified as free range.
Nobody from the Egg Corporation was available to talk to The World Today, however, a spokesman said the research is solid and it is unfortunate some are trying to politicise it.
A University of Sydney statement confirms Dr Downing's research received funding from the Australian Egg Corporation.
But it says he carried out his research independently and the report was reviewed by independent, external referees.

Stress in chickens - Industry 'reseachers' say there is no difference

Research funded by the Australian Egg Corporation has found that stress levels in chickens are not determined by production type - and 'free range' hens are just as likely to be stressed as those in cages or barns,
What the researchers don't explain in their report is what were the comparisons between the production facilities they used. Were the so-called 'free range' hens from intensive  systems where the hens were run at high stocking densities and were beak trimmed. Its almost certainly the case that they were, and if so, it's just another example of research designed to produce a pre-determined result.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/freerange-no-winner-over-inside-scramble-20120322-1vmx9.html

WA Labor starts to tackle 'free range' con

The WA Labor opposition has come out strongly in support of toughening labelling regulations for free range eggs.
Have a look at this article in the West Australian newspaper:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/news/13228740/free-range-egg-claims-false-labor/
Unfortunately the WA Minister for Agriculture has made the rather dumb claim that legislation is already adequate to deal with false labelling. If he really believes that, how come consumers are still being ripped off?

Westernport day trip

The Westernport Catchment Committee had a day out on Westernport yesterday to look at some of the issues which are affecting the coast. Here are a couple of shots.

Egg labelling forum

The decision by NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson to arrange a forum to discuss problems with egg labelling, is a great indication that the Government believes that consumers are being conned

At a forum being held in Sydney today, the NSW Food Authority is hearing from eggs producers, Australian Egg Corporation staff, and retailers. One of the topics on the agenda is ‘Truth in Labelling’.

The Australian Egg Corporation has acknowledged that currently some eggs producers who label their eggs as ‘free range’ are intensive farms with outdoor stocking densities of 40,000 hens per hectare.

Its answer to that problem is to introduce a new standard which allows a stocking density of up to 20,000 birds per hectare when the current level accepted by free range farmers across Australia is a maximum stocking rate of 1500 birds per hectare.

Clearly, the Australian Egg Corporation has turned its back on free range farmers despite its claims to represent all industry sectors.

The Free Range Egg & Poultry Association of Australia, will again urge the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Joe Ludwig, to amend funding arrangements for the Egg Corporation to allow levy monies paid by free range producers to be used for the promotion of free range eggs. Currently all monies raised by levies on replacement chicks is handed over to the Australian Egg Corporation.

Plan hatched to crack row over egg labelling

The NSW state government has weighed into the debate on the inconsistent definition of free range eggs and has convened a meeting of egg producers tomorrow in an attempt to resolve the long-running dispute over how eggs should be labelled.

It comes as theAustralian Competition and Consumer Commission launched Federal Court action against a South Australian producer who was selling her eggs as free range, despite most of the eggs being laid by caged hens.

The Australian Egg Corporation, which represents most commercial egg producers, has angered free-range producers and animal welfare groups with its proposed standard to allow a free-range egg farm to run 20,000 chickens per hectare.

The present code, which is not legally enforceable, allows 1500 chickens per hectare.

A spokeswoman for the NSW Food Authority, which organised the meeting at the request of the Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson, said it had concerns about "truth in labelling" and inconsistent terms.
More:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/plan-hatched-to-crack-row-over-egg-labelling-20120311-1usdz.html

A new calf

We have a new calf on the Freeranger Eggsfarm, born yesterday. A great little black heifer, so now I can get back into sharing the milk from our house cow, Pansy – as she produces way too much milk for one calf!

We are looking forward to more cream, butter and cheese.

ACCC takes court action against SA egg supplier

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Ms Rosemary Bruhn, who trades as Rosie's Free Range Eggs.

The ACCC alleges that from March 2007 to October 2010, Ms Bruhn represented that eggs she supplied to business customers including 117 customers in South Australia such as retail outlets, bakeries, cafes and restaurants, were free range eggs when a substantial proportion of the eggs were not free range but cage eggs.

The ACCC says that such conduct contravened section 55 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (now known as the Competition and Consumer Act 2010).

The ACCC is seeking:

• a declaration that Ms Bruhn contravened the Trade Practices Act
• an injunction in relation to engaging in similar conduct in the future
• an order for a corrective notice
• an order for Ms Bruhn to write to affected customers advising them of the outcome of the proceedings
• an order for Ms Bruhn to attend compliance training
• penalties, and
• costs.

More:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/accc-begins-federal-court-proceedings-against-rosies-free-range-eggs/story-e6frg6nf-1226294112944

Egg producers peck away at meaning of free range

From

Waikato Times

Large-scale egg producers running flocks more than five times the size of small farmers believe consumers can decide whether their free-range credentials are up to scratch.

A prominent Pukekohe egg farmer fears well-meaning shoppers will be faced with free-range eggs produced under a raft of standards, despite new welfare rules due this year.

Free-range egg company FRENZ director Rob Darby says as much as two-thirds of eggs sold as free-range are from large-scale producers, because of holes in the welfare code.

A drawn-out review of the code has centred on cage production, and Mr Darby says the draft rules will allow big producers to keep stretching the "free-range" label for profit.

But major producers running flocks of up to 8000 birds say the standards FRENZ wants are not viable, and would drive free-range farmers to the wall.

Egg Producers Federation executive director Michael Brooks said the industry-funded federation had endorsed the 2500-hens-per-hectare stocking densities being proposed.

He said the industry was split over the definition of "free-range" but the new code would be the only independent definition driven solely by hen welfare imperatives, and finally give both egg farmers and consumers some certainty around "free-range" egg labelling.

Mr Brooks said the federation had heard allegations that free-range labelling was misused: "Tell us the name of the producers and we'll go to the Commerce Commission on it."

"While some smaller free-range farmers disagreed with the birds-per-hectare number others saw it as positive as getting a line in the sand – a figure that put a limit and gave it a status not given under the current code," he said. "It was a case of getting a balance."

Primary Industries Minister David Carter is expected to issue the new code in mid-year.

Dr John Hellstrom is chairman of the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (Nawac), which has spent two years drafting minimum standards. He says defining the term "free-range" is not its job and he is satisfied the rules protect laying hens' welfare.

"As far as free-range is concerned, the main points of contention were hen stocking densities, and also the protection of the term," Dr Hellstrom said. "One of the things we've been grappling with is ... we're trying to develop welfare standards. We're not an organisation to protect marketing terms: that is outside the legislation's brief and our terms of reference. What we've decided to do is not refer to free-range at all in the draft code, but to instead talk about standards for birds that are farmed outdoors. That way we avoid any confusion. It's a marketing term, it's not a welfare term."

Woodland brand spokesperson Hamish Sutherland said commercial realities had to be weighed to allow the industry to meet rising consumer demand for free-range eggs. "If the stocking densities get too low you would end up having the entire South island covered in chooks. There does have to be some commercial balance," he said.

Dr Hellstrom said stocking densities varied in New Zealand and overseas, and the draft code matched European standards: "Australia, for example, is looking at more than 10,000 birds per hectare, which is hardly free-range."

Mr Darby wanted densities of 1000 hens/hectare entrenched in the new code. "They are suggesting in that code something more than three times that. That is not sustainable and it will cause huge problems. But it will satisfy the big guys because they want 30,000 birds in a shed and they don't want to be restricted."

Mr Brooks said large shed sizes allowed automated egg collection, which significantly reduced labour costs, a factor in ensuring certainty of supply for major supermarkets.

Equilibrium Farming

At the Freeranger Farm we have a totally sustainable approach to the way we operate and we often refer to it as Equilibrium Farming. Here's some info I published on the Bassbush website.

Over millions of years a wide variety of life forms and processes have evolved on the earth. We haven't yet discovered them all and some will inevitably disappear before we know what they are. We certainly don't understand them but we humans have developed an agricultural and industrial system which takes little notice of the balance generated by nature. We are control freaks, determined to develop ever-more complex equipment and processes which ignore our natural environment and try to change it.

We produce farm products which require unsustainably high volumes of fresh water, whilst ignoring the methods which nature developed to maintain biodiversity. Is it any wonder that many people are becoming increasingly concerned about our impact on climate change? We seem to have a great need to build machines which rely on the continuity of resources designed to maintain the economic imperative. Of course there are plenty of politicians (and others) who don't accept the effect we are having. They (like tobacco company executives arguing that there was no link between smoking and lung
cancer) insist that global warming is just a cycle and there is nothing we can do about it. Perhaps they are right! But perhaps not. Are we all prepared to risk irreversible damage to our atmosphere, our soils and our waterways? We believe that Equilibrium Farming is the way to go - minimum inputs, reduced costs and simple production methods will ensure that a farm can operate sustainably for generations.

Chemical Farming
Industrialisation has allowed our civilisation to develop artificial farming techniques. We are now able to take almost any landscape, destroy what is there and turn it into what we see as important – if we are too dumb to think about the consequences. The deliberate destruction of forests, grasslands and even swamps is just mind-boggling. But we have done it and we are still doing it. We see fertile areas and systematically remove all vestiges of plant and animal life before ploughing the ground, without any thought for the consequences of destroying the microflora and microfauna in the soil.

It's all done in the name of progress – and creating an agricultural monoculture. We replace native species with exotics in the belief that they will perform 'better' (or at least will put more dollars in our pockets).
Monocultures often thrive in the short term. It doesn't make much difference if its wheat, potatoes, grapes, olives or just rye grass and clover, the traditional outputs don't keep pace with population growth, and we chase ways to maximise production. This usually means dumping truckloads (or plane loads) of synthetic fertilisers to boost production. Insecticides and herbicides are spread like confetti to try to stop all the little bugs and things from spoiling our fun. There's no doubt it works and makes farmers and governments heaps of money (for a while). But it all comes crashing down when the reality hits that you can't keep doing this!

Agriculture driven by chemical inputs increases short term productivity and nutritional levels to unprecedented levels but the cost is the destruction of our soils.

Our farming practices mean that throughout the world, we use more water than falls naturally as rainfall.

The area of soils which is productive is gradually reducing every year while the population increases exponentially.

In Australia, we have one of the world’s most difficult agricultural environments – semi-arid in most parts, shallow topsoils, low nutrient levels and high salinity levels in subterranean soils. In the first 200 years of European settlement, Australians reduced the fertility of much of the landscape by inappropriate farming practices, increased soil and water salinity to near catastrophic levels and reduced biodiversity.

The levels of carbon in soils was once measured in thousands of years, but apparently now span only 2 to 3 years – a testament to the decreasing levels of life in soils.

It has been shown that chemical fertilisers harm and kill plant micro-organisms, thus eliminating the possibility of natural nutrient cycling. Combined with the application of pesticides and herbicides in an irrigated monocultural environment, the chemicals are aiding the desertification and salinisation of productive lands.

Erosion effects – the elimination of natural flora (not to mention the microflora) has caused enormous damage to the structure of Australian soils. Together with wholesale tilling, our soils are routinely badly eroded, to the point where a major rain season (or high winds in a dry season) may result in catastrophic removal of topsoil. Serious erosion can be readily viewed in any dryland area of Australia – ranging from minor to extreme – and the problem is worsening with all major
attempts at redressing the problem being largely ineffective.

Our complex political and economic systems have developed so far that often our balance of payments is in negative territory (importing far more than we export).

A significant proportion of that imbalance is the result of importing chemical fertilisers to feed our naturally 'poor' soils. The fertilisers, while allowing for profitable crops in the short term, are contributing to the acidification and salinisation of our soils. Their use produces excess levels of soluble nutrients in soil - which has two effects, increased nutrient stored in subsoils, and increased nutrient loads in waterways. The former is just a waste, the latter is the cause of untold pollution of waterways in a world with an increasing freshwater deficit.

What's the cost to human health?

While we are feeding an unprecedented number of people, there are still significant shortcomings. Ours may be the only generation in recorded human history to not live longer than our parents – a testament to the falling food values of our
diet, overeating and obesity-related illnesses in some parts of the world, and malnutrition, starvation in others. How did we get it so wrong?

The natural process

There are no chemical fertilisers or pesticides or herbicides in nature.

Organic wastes in natural forests fall to the ground where they are consumed by a plethora of micro-organisms. No-one has gone close to calculating how many species exist today, let alone what existed before human intervention, but some estimate them to be in the millions.

In a complex and poorly understood web, these species interact with each other and one organism’s byproduct is another’s
food. From the competitive melange that makes up our soils, nutrients and energy are constantly and sustainably returned to so-called higher plants where the process of capturing the sunlight and gases from the atmosphere results in even more life – a perfectly sustainable ecosystem, with increasing biomass.
Compare this to our man-made system in which biodiversity and biomass are spiralling ever-downwards. Unfortunately our intervention is growing - the clamour for clearing understorey in our native forests in the name of 'fire control' will lead to even greater decline.

There have been numerous studies of practical farming techniques utilising natural systems and it has been demonstrated that the elimination of chemical fertilisers, reductions in the use of pesticides and herbicides, show little or no loss in productivity.
The net result – which should be relished by farmers – is that profitability can go up, not down, by using these natural methods. Unfortunately most will keep doing what they have always done. And eventually go broke!

There are no irrigation channels in the natural Australian landscape. Instead, there are chains of ponds – swamps and wetlands, sometimes covering hundreds of square miles – connected only during floods by intermittent streams. Water is
retained in the landscape and does not flow 'unused' to the ocean. Plant and animal forms have adapted to this natural sequence, and thrive in what often appears as a barren and inhospitable landscape. As plant biomass increases, the flow of water is slowed, causing water levels in the swamplands to increase, thus providing more opportunity to grow more plants – and on goes the cycle.
The result – increased biomass, and increased biodiversity.

In nature, waste is always re-used locally. Everything is inter or co-dependent, and synergies abound. Plants and animals don't live in isolation, instead they are part of complex, diverse and inter-related communities. Monocultures seldom
exist, and by-products are processed then consumed where they fall.

An organism's by-products are exuded in a way to maximise the benefit to the organism. Plants, for example, exude simple sugars from their roots to eliminate their “wastes” - and micro-organisms convert these sugars into water soluble nutrients which are then used by the plant.

Everything is cycled and re-used in an upward spiral – increasing biomass and biodiversity. Nothing goes unused.

We are not as smart. In our industrial, chemical model, we create foods and other products, transport them vast distances to markets, in order to participate in a 'market economy'. Then we deal with our waste as a separate commodity, not part of our production cycle. What a con!

More info on Sustainability, Deep Ecology, Brittle Landscapes and heaps more can be
found at http://bassbush.htmlplanet.com/

New website to help people find local food

A new website  has been set up at http://www.localharvest.org.au/ to help buyers find their food locally.
This fits well with our food miles policy.    

We don't just have hens at the Freeranger farm

Although chickens and egg production has been the main focus on the freeranger farm for over 10 years,we also do other things-like cattle, sheep and horses.
Our house cow Pansy is due to calve again in the next few weeks and we have bought another cream separator - so our old faithful Lister separator is now on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Original-Lister-Cream-Separator-/140710402222?pt=AU_Business_Industrial_Farming_Agriculture_Farming_Agriculture_Equipment&hash=item20c2fe58ae

I did think about keeping it, but it may as well be put to good use rather than just sit around in a cupboard.
As well as separating cows milk, they apparently work well with goats milk

Super Bikes keep people away from Churchill Island Farmers' Market

Bass Coast Shire and the Victorian State Government like to boast about how wonderful special events are - like the Superbike racing at the Phillip Island racetrack this weekend.
The reality is that few of those events provide any local benefit. Today has been a case in point. So many locals have either let their houses at enormous rents for the weekend and headed off for a quiet time, or they have stayed indoors with the air conditioning on!
Churchill Island Farmers' Market had about one third of the customers expected at this time of year and not one of the stallholders was happy.
No-one wants to be on the roads with the clowns who think they are on the racetrack and can drive as well as anyone!

Field Guide to regional Food in Victoria

Freeranger Eggs is just one food producer featured in The Field Guide to Victorian Produce. If you would like a copy come to one of our Farmers' Markets or order on line through the freeranger website http://www.freeranger.com.au

One part food media, one part mobile produce store, The Field Guide to Victorian Produce is the first comprehensive guide to Victoria’s regional produce and the people that grow, make and sell it.

The Guide makes it easy for anyone to be a locavore, to access quality produce from their food region, or to enjoy regional food tourism by going direct to the source. The Guide also connects growers to new markets by providing a platform for them to tell their story and sell their goods. In the name of localism and authenticity we celebrate quality regional produce, farming and a healthy life.