When we picture free-range farm animals, often it’s a beautifully bucolic scene: chickens scratching about for bugs; pigs happily grunting as they root around in overflowing troughs, all set against rolling green pastures. But not all ‘free-range’ animal products come from such environments. Current free-range standards in Australia mean that conditions on free-range farms can vary greatly. Ultimately, it’s up to the farmer. We meet two who have taken the term ‘free range’ and run with it.

Chooks at the Rooke

Xavier Prime and Kimberley Burridge of Chooks at the Rooke in Victoria proudly produce pasture-raised free-range eggs. Their stocking density is 94 birds per hectare (see panel at right for more on stocking densities).

“Pasture-raised means the birds are constantly moving over fresh grass and fresh soil, so they’re able to express their natural behaviours,” Prime says.

To provide shelter, the farm has mobile sheds, which move with the birds, while Maremma dogs provide protection from predators. Fresh pasture gives the birds access to a variety of food sources, and their diet is supplemented with grain feed. Chooks at the Rooke is also PROOF (‘pasture-raised on open fields’) certified.

“It’s something that’s important to pasture-raised producers, because without it, you risk just being lumped into the ‘free-range’ category, which is not what we are,” Prime says. “I think it’s important to have a third party like PROOF to certify farms. Otherwise, there’s no accountability.”

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Bundarra Farm

Bundarra Farm in NSW is renowned for its incredible free-range Berkshire pork. Lauren and Lachlan Mathers have won numerous awards for it, and are now also following the same ethical farming practices to pasture-raise heritage Sommerlad chickens.

“All our pigs are outdoor pigs,” Lauren says. “We have birthing paddocks for pregnant sows, where they can make their own nest. And then, after eight weeks, we put the piglets in another paddock. That’s where people can get confused, because they see ‘outdoor bred’ and think that means free range.”

The Bundarra pigs live a delightful life, sleeping in the shade, or enjoying the mud wallows provided. Piglets run around and chase each other, burrow in the straw and even play with balls. “They’re really intelligent,” Lauren says. “When you see a pig out in the paddock, doing its thing, it’s pretty amazing.”

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Taste the difference

One of the country’s leading sustainable and ethical chefs, delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards National Judge Matt Stone says there’s a noticeable difference when you taste produce from animals that have been raised well.

“For instance, [pasture-raised] eggs are bigger, and the shells are harder,” he says. “The colour of the yolk is also deeper, and there’s more texture in the whites. This shows the diversity of food that the animals are eating – the greater the diversity of their diet, the more flavour and nutrients are in the egg.”

Lauren began farming free-range pigs because of the taste difference. “I used to run a foodstore, “ she says. “And the pork we were getting was just so bad. So I started looking into how pigs are raised, and I realised that the environment they’re grown in has huge influence on their flavour.”

For Prime, who also produces award-winning cockerels, he just knows that happy birds produce better food. “The more a bird can express its natural behaviours, the more you’ll see that flow through into the eggs and meat,” he says. “I think it’s as simple as that.”

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