Right: supermarkets are under pressure from Animals Australia and similar groups to outlaw practices such as the use of "farrowing cages" on pig farms.
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Background information
'Factory farming' or 'intensive farming'
The term 'factory farming' refers to the intensive farming of livestock (here pigs and chickens) in Australia and overseas, involving the restraint or confinement of animals for all their lives or at significant points in their lives.
The term 'factory farming' is usually used by opponents of the practice as it carries negative connotations. 'Intensive farming' is the phrase generally used by supporters of the practice. Throughout much of this issue outline the term 'factory farming' will be used because 'intensive farming' is also applied to a wider range of farming practices, including some of those used to grow plant crops.
When applied to the rearing of laying hens the term 'battery cages' is sometimes used.
Factory farming of pigs and chickens in Australia
In Australia ninety-five percent of meat chickens and ninety-five percent of pigs for meat consumption are raised in factory farms. The production and consumption of both meats has increased dramatically. Over the past 40 years the increase in chicken meat consumption has been from 5.9kg per year to 36kg in 2007-2008 (the equivalent of 27 chickens) per person, an increase of approximately 600 percent. Over the past 50 years the chicken meat production has increased from three million to 470 million chickens per year.
Both industries (meat chicken and pork) are highly concentrated, with three percent of piggeries being in the control of 54 percent of the total sow herd and only three companies supplying 80 percent of Australia's meat chickens.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in 2004 there were 320,000 sows in Australia. The animal rights group Voiceless indicated that in 2005 some 200,000 breeding sows were in factory farms in Australia.
Animals Australia has also claimed that 12 million laying fowls are kept in small cages for their entire laying lives, while some 435 million chickens are kept within sheds before being slaughtered for meat production.
Free-range farming
In some European markets, free-range and organic animal products have overtaken those produced using conventional intensive systems. Organic animal production aims to provide a natural environment for animals, to foster natural behaviours, and to avoid the use of synthetic chemicals. While the precise standards may vary, organic certification bodies usually require the use of free-range production systems.
Free-range egg farms
The term 'free-range' is not precise as it covers a variety of practices. Regarding eggs, free-range eggs come from hens that have been housed in a shed and have access to an outdoor area where they can roam.
But there are several standards in Australia and no legal definition of free range.
The consumer advice organisation, Choice, recommends looking out for logos from the Free Range Egg and Poultry Australia or the RSPCA, which have clearly defined standards and conduct farm inspections.
Shoppers may also spot the logo for the Egg Corporation, representing the vast majority of egg producers in Australia, which has less specific standards for free range than other groups.
The Egg Corporation Assured standard, based on a government-endorsed code of practice:
- Hens are housed in sheds and have access to the outside area for about eight hours a day.
- Within a shed there are a maximum of 14 birds per square metre.
- Outside there are is a maximum of 1500 birds per hectare.
- If measures such as reducing bird density do not prevent cannibalism, beak trimming is allowed.
Free Range Egg and Poultry Australia standards:
- Hens are housed in sheds and have access to the outside during daylight hours.
- Within a shed there are a maximum of 10 birds per square metre up to 1000 birds.
- Outside there are a maximum of 750 birds per hectare.
- Beak trimming is allowed to prevent feather pecking.
RSPCA standards:
- Hens are housed in sheds and can go outside by choice.
- Within a shed there are a maximum of nine hens per square metre.
- Outside there are a maximum of 1500 hens per hectare.
- Cannibalism should be at first be prevented by removing possible stressors such as lighting or humidity, before beak trimming is considered necessary and is carried out.
Different types of pig rearing
The RSPCA has classified a variety of pig-rearing practices which are offered as alternatives to stall-rearing.
Free-range pork
Free-range pork comes from pigs that were born and raised with free access to the outdoors. That is, where the sows and growing piglets have access to paddocks, as well as huts or other forms of housing for shelter, and are not confined to sow stalls (for pregnant sows) or farrowing crates (for lactating sows and their piglets).
The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme requires that pigs live in a well-managed outdoor system, or within enhanced indoor environments that cater for all their behavioural and physiological needs, or a combination of both (referred to as 'bred free range'). You would not see sow stalls or farrowing crates on an RSPCA Approved pig farm. All pigs are reared, handled and transported with consideration and care and then slaughtered humanely.
Bred free-range pork
'Bred free range' is a term used to apply to pig products (pork, bacon, etc) from pigs that were born in a free-range environment but were subsequently raised indoors. These pigs may be raised in large open sheds with straw bedding (known as ecoshelters) or in small pens on concrete floors as in conventional pig farming systems.
The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme requires that pork marketed as RSPCA 'bred free-range' comes from farms where sows and boars range freely outside, piglets are born outside on the range and, once weaned, are raised in ecoshelters with straw bedding.
Sow-stall free pork
The Australian pig industry has committed to phasing out sow stalls and moving all female breeding pigs (sows) to indoor group housing, An initiative strongly supported by the RSPCA. The term 'sow-stall free' is used to differentiate pork product from pigs that have been born to sows in group housing. The pig industry defines 'sow-stall free' as a system where a sow may have been kept in a stall for up to 5 days following last mating up to one week before farrowing; however, other definitions allow only one day in a stall. These stalls are called 'mating stalls', are very similar to a sow stall, and are used at mating to prevent aggression between sows and hence potential injury or abortion. Following this period of confinement, the sow is housed in groups with other pregnant sows.
The move from sow stalls to group housing is a very important first step. The next priority is transitioning away from farrowing crates which may be used to confine the sow for up to five weeks (from about a week before giving birth to her piglets up until they are weaned). Farrowing pens which allow the sow freedom of movement while protecting the piglets from crushing are under development. Piglets from sow-stall free sows may be raised in large open sheds with straw bedding (known as ecoshelters) or in small pens on concrete floors as in conventional pig farming systems.