Page 4 - National Poultry Newspaper

While in Lilydale, Tasmania recently, I enjoyed this Marion Bay Free Range Egg and Poultry Australia certified free range chicken and some pasture raised eggs from my host’s farm.
Forest free range hens at Denmark on Western Australia’s south coast. An idyllic life, though foxes and other terrestrial and aerial predators can quickly change that.
Cagey commentary nicely laid out
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HEALTHY respectful ar- ticulate debate is too often in short supply, especially when it comes to highly emotive subjects such as how animals are farmed.
and antibiotics, then the answer would be ‘caged’.
size, our traditional way of life is being threatened and our opportunity to grow sustainably to look after our families is being tak- en away from us by large companies that undertake in food production and control the market.
This is sadly so often the case when rabid activist groups try to validate their extremist views, typically via short sharp sensational- ist and staccato social me- dia posts.
How can farming and farmers develop in a way that is sustainable consid- ering the confusion sur- rounding farming?
While I occasionally un- derstand their views, I more often than not have no em- pathy for their mode of de- livery – particularly when their voices are backed up by illegal farm and busi- ness invasions – which puts the animals they are supposedly fighting for in peril.
While farming systems may have changed and to- day’ s farmers produce food in a variety of ways, a fam- ily farmer’ s ethical respon- sibility to his animals and the environment has not!
I wonder what the con- sumer will think when they see how these farms are run.
A n y w a y, t h a t ’ s e n o u g h space for them.
While I believe that 50 years on from the introduc- tion of caged egg farming in Australia, it’s time to move on.
Is it because of consumer demand, or is it because the consumer continues to buy caged eggs and they would prefer to move the consumer to an egg where the profit margins are higher?
We should not be fo- cussed on any farming system.
In last month’s column, headlined ‘Caged hens have surely had their day’, I made my views known on what I think of egg-laying
I can understand and in- deed sympathise with al- ternate views put by those heavily invested in Austral- ian egg production, includ- ing those with a bias to caged eggs.
Free range egg sales in supermarkets may be growing, but is it ‘consum- er driven’ if the supermar- kets are not giving consum- ers the choice?
We should be focussed on assuring farmers are re- sponsible to their animals and the environment – no matter which farming sys- tem they use – and allow the consumer freedom of choice.
hens being kept in cages where they may occupy a space the size of an A4 piece of paper.
Why are supermarkets taking caged eggs off the shelves?
The chickens will not be running around in the lush green pastures, as most people would imagine.
On this note, I was hap- py to receive prompt col- umn feedback from Brian Ahmed, the managing di- rector of LT's Egg Farm in Werribee, Victoria.
Farmers such as my- self, who do not deal with the supermarkets, have a growing market for their caged eggs.
Brian and his family have been egg producers for 50 or so years and therefore have witnessed and been part of many production cycles and trends in that time – hence have plenty of ‘skin in the game’.
A widely respected in- dustry figure, Brian began his email to me by saying he respected everyone hav- ing an opinion and fully supported people having freedom of choice – pro- viding they have all of the correct information needed to make an informed deci- sion.
This may come as a sur- prise to many, but family farms build trust with their customers and continue to grow by promoting and building their own markets.
To this day, they still offer their customers a choice of caged and free range eggs.
Alas, he was off to a good start and pretty much won me over up-front.
Why are large retailers taking away consumer choice and why do govern- ments want to take steps to phase out any form of food production?
In other words, while they may choose to remain in- doors in some free range systems, if and when they are offered access to the great outdoors, at least they have that choice.
Here’s what he went on to say.
All family farms are in the same boat – even though they may vary in
As your article stated, caged egg farming began about 50 years ago, but what it does not say is that it was designed to produce eggs in volume to feed a growing population and at the same time improve animal welfare, food safety and biosecurity.
The gap between the city and country continues to grow and certain groups have used this space to run their own misinformation agendas.
Free range is a small- scale farming system, how- ever large retailers and producers have found a way to mass produce free range eggs.
If everyone believes that the egg market is consumer driven, why not let the mar- ket decide?
While I can’t disagree with the concept of freedom of choice when it comes to eggs and pretty much eve- rything else in life, I still maintain that our egg-laying chickens also deserve free- dom of choice.
Page 4 – National Poultry Newspaper, January 2022
If you ask the consumer whether they prefer eggs from chickens in cages or ones that are free then your answer will be ‘free range’, however if you ask the consumer if they would prefer their eggs produced from a farming system that has a lower mortality rate and does not use chemicals
Free Range Egg and Poultry Australia is a not-for- profit member-based organisation. Since 1993, it has been committed to independent accreditation for the highest standards of animal welfare, traceability and production of free range eggs and poultry.
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