Who better to explain to us than the boys leading the way from Freedom Farms!

At Freedom Farms we describe what we do as Free Farming. ‘Free Farmed’ is our own term and we use it to describe our entire farming system.

 

Our understanding is that there is currently no legal definition of what free range means in pig farming in New Zealand. We think there needs to be one. Accordingly, we have decided to use the term ‘Free Farmed’ which as you can see means much more than how the piggies are housed.

 

 

‘Free Farmed’ means, in summary:

 

1.   No sow crates
 

2.   No farrowing crates
 

3.   No indoor concrete fattening pens
 

4.   All sows live in open fields at all times and the piglets live with the sow in her shelter until weaning
 

5.   After weaning, the piglets must be raised in either approved deep straw shelters (sometimes called eco shelters) or in approved open paddock environments
 

6.   All farms must be audited by the SPCA and approved by them. The key tests being cruelty free and the animals being able to display their natural behaviours
 

7.   No waste product feeds
 

8.   No growth hormones
 

9.   No tricky feed chemicals
 

10. Any antibiotic use must be approved and is very strictly controlled
 

11. All animals must be slaughtered at an SPCA approved abattoir

Restricted travel distances to abattoirs
 

 

As an aside, one of the leading authorities on farm animal welfare in the UK is CIWF (Compassion in World Farming).   Under their definition, we believe they would describe our system as free range.

 

Our view however, is that from a consumers perspective, ‘free range’ is often used as a generic term for high welfare. In this context, that is why the SPCA approval is so important, regardless of free range definitions. It is the consumers guarantee about their animal welfare concerns. No one cares more about the welfare of animals than the SPCA (and Freedom Farms).

 

If you have any questions, you can contact freedom farms by on us@freedomfarms.co.nz. Thanks for caring.