Page 7 - National Poultry Newspaper

Billions of reasons to celebrate
World Farm Animal Day
MORE than 2.5 billion CA Approved Farming venience stores and are on
CA assessors, who visit all participating farms two to four times a year.
layer hens, meat chick- ens, pigs, turkeys and farmed Atlantic salmon have now benefitted from higher welfare farming conditions through the continued efforts of the RSPCA Approved Farm- ing Scheme.
Scheme is intended to im- prove the lives of as many farm animals as possible.
the menu at some of our favourite restaurants.”
“The rigorous assess- ment process behind the scenes is a critical aspect of the scheme.”
Announced to coincide with World Farm Animal Day on October 2, the lat- est statistics highlight the positive impact of the RSP- CA Approved Farming Scheme, which is Austral- ia’s leading animal welfare certification program.
“The scale of Austral- ian animals farmed to the RSPCA’s higher welfare standards clearly illustrates the sheer number of lives positively impacted by the scheme,” Mr Mussell said.
The RSPCA has animal welfare standards for lay- ing hens, meat chickens, turkeys, pigs and farmed Atlantic salmon, and they focus on providing good housing conditions spe- cific for these animals.
The COVID-19 pan- demic had heightened focus on supply chains and interest in farming practices from consumers seeking assurance.
In 2019 alone, more than 174,000 layer hens, 509 million meat chickens, 116,000 pigs, 122,000 turkeys and 4.7 million farmed Atlantic salmon were raised to the RSP- CA’s detailed higher wel- fare standards.
“Independent certifica- tion is the best way of guaranteeing welfare and, with the RSPCA Ap- proved Farming Scheme, Australians are fortunate to have a logo they can trust, to find eggs, meat and fish that have come from a farm with a focus on animal welfare.
“Importantly, RSPCA Australia works collabo- ratively with farmers and industry to ensure not on- ly do the RSPCA’s stand- ards improve welfare for farm animals, but they’re also attainable in Austral- ia,” Mr Mussell said.
INTERSTATE offi- cials are not taking any chances after Australia’s worst-ever avian influ- enza outbreak in Victo- ria.
breaks were not all con- nected.
farmer Jess Pitkin has a flock of about 90 breed- ers and an additional 300 other birds on her farm.
RSPCA Australia’s chief executive officer Richard Mussell said the RSP-
“RSPCA Approved prod- ucts are now widely avail- able in supermarkets, con-
“All eligible farms are assessed against these standards by trained RSP-
Find out more by visiting rspcaapproved.org.au
“There were outbreaks in 2012 in Maitland and 2013 in Young, but we have only had a couple of premises at any one time,” Dr Britton said.
“These diseases can get around and be devastat- ing, and small operators don’t have livestock insur- ance, so the cost is really big.”
“We know consumers care about farm animal welfare and want great- er assurance about how the food on their plate is farmed.
The standards are based on the best available ani- mal welfare science, RSP- CA policy, leading farm- ing practices in Australia and overseas, and take into account the commer- cial realities of farming.
“Through the RSP- CA Approved Farming Scheme, we are proud to work with dedicated farm- ers and forward-thinking brands who have raised the bar for farm animal welfare in our country,” Mr Mussell said.
Photo: Michelle Tresemer
Devastating bird flu outbreak in Victoria sees NSW prepare for the worst
“It’s also now easier than ever for Austral- ians to choose humanely farmed products and that is having a big impact on how millions of animals are farmed every year.”
With more than 460,000 birds having been de- stroyed to date, NSW De- partment of Primary In- dustries chief veterinary officer Sarah Britton said the threat could not be underestimated.
Outbreaks in NSW had been rare, but Dr Britton said tens of thousands of birds had been destroyed in the past decade after flocks became infected.
“It is imperative to have that quick response,” Ms Pitkin said.
“This is probably the biggest avian influenza outbreak we have had in Australia,” Dr Britton said.
At that time about 50,000-layer hens in Maitland were destroyed with quarantine zones put in place.
Ms Pitkin said the coro- navirus pandemic had helped to shine a light on the importance of bi- osecurity measures, and that biosecurity controls for humans could be rep- licated when it came to birds.
“In Victoria there have been seven premises af- fected, six of them being poultry.”
Biosecurity vets said they were monitoring wild bird populations across NSW, and experts had joined forces to keep AI out.
To prepare, she was lim- iting farm visits, taking extra caution with peo- ple who keep backyard chooks and asking cus- tomers to park their cars at a distance from her farm gate.
AI was first detected at a free-range egg farm in Lethbridge north-west of Geelong in late July.
“In NSW we have put together an incident man- agement team and that sets up for emergency re- sponses,” Dr Britton said.
Photos: Andrea Lightfoot
Agriculture Victoria said three different strains of the virus were detect- ed, meaning that the out-
Hunter Valley chicken
GRIND YOUR OWN LITTER WITH THE MIGHTY GIANT
• Hydraulic tilt tub
• Single operator friendly with remote control
• 25FT swivel conveyor
• Grind a straw bale to 20mm in a minute or less
• Built in the US with all parts available and in
stock in Australia.
“There is no machine like it on the market. It will grind bales as fast as you can load them!”
Contact Leigh Byron 0418 425 485 or leigh@valtonfeedingsolutions.com.au
www.valtonfeedingsolutions.com.au
www.poultrynews.com.au
National Poultry Newspaper, November 2020 – Page 7