The boom in free-range egg production is set to be put to a true popularity test when new labelling rules give shoppers a clearer idea about just how free-ranging were the chooks which laid those eggs.
The rules, to be phased in this year, will require free-range egg cartons to clearly display label details, spelling out producer stocking rates.
The national free-range egg farming definition will limit the maximum bird density to 10,000 birds a hectare.
That’s equivalent to one bird for each square metre of paddock-ranging space, if all chooks on a farm are outside at the same time.
The free-range egg industry’s share of total egg consumption in Australia has doubled in the past decade – up from 20.3 per cent to 40.7pc.
In total, Australians eat through about 400 million dozen eggs a year, with supermarket sales rising more than 7pc annually, according to the Australian Egg Corporation.
Although retailing at twice the price of conventional caged eggs, free-range sales in December jumped 12.7 per cent on the previous Christmas period.
The new free-range standards, to be enforced by state consumer affairs departments, will not require farmers to rotationally graze their hens in different paddocks over set periods.
Nor will chooks be forced to go outside.
The standards will, however, demand farmers provide hens with “meaningful and regular access” to outdoor conditions.
Egg producers can choose to specify what maximum hen stocking rates apply on their farms – for example, 500, 2500, 5000 or 10,000 hens/ha.
Animal welfare advocate, the RSPCA wanted a much tougher maximum definition set at no more than 1500/ha, or up to 2500 if a regular paddock rotation system exists.
The CSIRO egg model code of practice has also suggested 1500/ha, or less for free-range.
Peak egg producer body, Egg Farmers of Australia, was initially uneasy about the costs and practicalities of putting hen density details on carton labels, but agreed consumers wanted to know how many birds were grazing in open conditions when farms promoted themselves as free-range.
“In some ways the industry has exaggerated some misunderstanding about what’s possible in a free-range environment by promoting images of open paddocks and lush green grass,” said chief executive officer, John Dunn.
“The marketing image of hens in green fields and enjoying freedom might appeal to humans, but chooks are not humans – they don’t always go outside, they don’t eat much green grass (it makes them sick), and they actually like dust.”
Mr Dunn’s national body represents about 90pc of all egg producers, about 120 businesses from small-scale free-range to large multi-segment producers selling caged, barn-laid and free-range eggs.
He hoped the new standards and labelling requirements would help shoppers realise free-range was a high-cost production option and not always visually exciting.
“Hens don’t always leave their shed, and if they’re outside they often choose to scratch up the grass to create a dust bath,” he said.
After a year of state government consultation, the new free-range standard is understood to have now been signed off for launch this month.
It supersedes a variety of widely-different state-enforced and voluntary codes which previously set maximum densities varying from 1500/ha in Queensland, to the egg corporation’s 20,000/ha maximum standard, which also featured minimum housing and management requirements.
Five years ago the corporation estimated up to a third of Australia’s free-rangers carried much more than 20,000 chooks/ha, but stocking densities then came down to a 20,000 maximum introduced in 2013 as part of its industry code.
Consumer advocacy campaigner, Choice, argues shoppers are still not likely to get a good deal when they pay premium prices for free-range eggs sourced from farms running 10,000 chooks/ha.
It said the new national standard only changed the definition for free-range eggs to suit the needs of “industrial egg producers”.
Choice has put further pressure on what it regards as fake free-range eggs via its augmented-reality app, CluckAR.
The smartphone app gives consumers the chance to scan egg cartons to identify those from farms with stocking densities of 1500 hens/ha or fewer, which pass Choice’s free-range test.