DROUGHT AND ORGANIC GRAIN SUPLIES
Due to ongoing drought conditions organic grain is now in short supply and consequently has increased in price dramatically. The Ethical Farmers after consultation with many of our customers have decided to change our certified organic feed to a natural chemical/GMO free feed. (Please Note: this feed falls outside the original Organic Standard and we will not call it organic.) The Australian Certified Organic (ACO) has increased allowable non-organic inputs into certified feed to 25%. We believe this to be misleading and is not a fair indication of “true” organic.
The change in our feed will affect all our egganic eggs and organic pork. We will continue to use certified organic feed for our meat birds until at least the end of the year, so all of our chicken meat products are still labelled “organic”.
In reality all produce that the Ethical Farmers use or produce will change very little and will always meet our strict standards that will be healthier for you and the environment.
It is not always possible for us to grow everything ourselves so we have forged great relationships with likeminded farmers who supply us and we work closely with them.
This ensures we understand how the animals have been raised and also enables the farmers to work with us in the pursuit of handpicking the best possible product for your plate. This also helps the producer to maximize returns – so we all benefit.
We would like to introduce you to our wonderful farmers and we hope you enjoy their stories!
EGGANIC PASTURE ORGANIC EGGS
We feel very strongly about the humane treatment of animals. Our philosophy is that each hen should exist in as natural an environment as possible and be able to seek the freedom it deserves. We are certified by Humane Choice who believe in our principles in relation to excellent treatment of animals.
This belief has driven all of our decisions about the environment we have created for our hens. Unfortunately, we live in a time where many "free-range" eggs have come from hens that are hardly free-range. Perhaps they are kept in overcrowded barns, or are debeaked. We strongly disapprove of these farming techniques. We believe that natural is always best and that’s what we have focused on at egganic.
Our hens are free to roam on pristine, green, and chemical free pasture. We feed them certified organic layer feed and they are able to forage for grubs and bugs, as they are naturally inclined to. At sun down the chooks make their own way into a mobile hen house at their leisure to roost for the night. The house is moved around the paddock on a regular basis to ensure it is on fresh pasture all the time.
We do not believe in debeaking and none of our hens are debeaked. Some people within the egg industry will tell you that this leads to serious trouble amongst hens, with vicious fights. This is simply untrue. There’s a pecking order that hens stick to, and if they are raised and looked after in a natural, stress-free environment they simply don’t fight with one another! Debeaking is a cruel, painful and apparently necessary if hens are raised in stressful, intensive environments.
While we have fenced our farm, we also protect our hens from foxes and other predators with Maremma guardian dogs. These dogs are amazing creatures and have been used in Italy for centuries to protect livestock against predators. Under their watchful eye, the dogs ensure that our flocks are safe at all times.
We invite our customers, retailers and other interested people to come and visit our farm at Somersby. We would love to show you our farm and detail our animal husbandry and welfare practices.
We are proud of the environment we've created at egganic for our hens. We believe this is why our eggs have such a rich yellow colour and fantastic flavour. Put simply, if hens are happy and free to act and behave naturally, the eggs they lay are delicious and nutritious. It’s really as simple as that. We are proud to say that we have been assessed and we are certified by Humane Choice. This organisation is proactive for "true" freerange producers and the welfare of the animals is of utmost importance!!
Egganic uses Isa Brown and Hy-line hens known for their consistent high lay rate, friendly nature and hardiness that suits our local environment.
Pullets are sourced from a professional grower in NSW who raises our chicks from 1 day old. The grower teaches the chicks to use self feeders, access water, roost and free range. The grower also administers all compulsory vaccinations that are required by law and any other steps that may be required to ensure that the highest level of animal welfare is achieved.
The pullets are delivered at around ten to twelve weeks of age and are introduced into their new home a two hectare paddock complete with mobile layer shed, mobile feeders, mobile water trough and one or two of our Maremma dogs for added protection. The shed, feeders and troughs are moved every two to three days depending on the weather to ensure that the chooks remain on fresh pasture. The self feeders supply on demand a certified organic layer feed to complement the natural pastures and a mix of calcium grit and diatomaceous earth is also supplied on demand to assist in maintaining a high level of animal health.
Each shed is stocked with 600-800 hens (maximum 300/ha). The paddocks are sown with perennial based pastures and have a well balanced soil. The paddocks and pastures are chemical free and are run under organic practices.
The sheds are designed to enable all the chooks to comfortably roost, gain easy unrestricted 24hr access to the outside, maintain fresh airflow and provide shelter from the elements. The layer boxes are located in the shed and provide nesting for approx 30% of the flock at any one time. All feed and water is located outside the shed to encourage free ranging.
WHY OUR EGGS TASTE BETTER
Eggs are collected by hand every morning, cleaned, graded by weight, packaged and stored in a coolroom. The whole process is completed within the morning, this ensures that the eggs maintain maximum freshness.
We sell out of our eggs every week. This means that we never store our eggs for longer than 7 days. In fact our eggs have generally been consumed by the purchaser before most other eggs finally make it to their retail outlets!
While we are not certified organic, we raise our hens under organic standards ticking most of the organic boxes and exceeding most of the standards. We are certified by Humane Choice which refers to the treatment of the bird.
We use biological and sustainable farming and animal health practices. This approach ensures that we are able to maintain a high standard in animal welfare that can sometimes be detrimental to the animals under a certified organic system.
We receive a lot of customer feedback about the incredible taste of egganic eggs. This is for good reason - our eggs come from very happy hens!
Break open an egganic egg, and you’ll discover a rich, dark yellow yolk. We believe the colour of our yolks comes from the varied and natural diet of our hens. They forage for grubs, worms and insects all day long, and supplement this with organic feed.
But this natural diet doesn’t only make our eggs look good, it makes them taste great as well. Poached, fried, scrambled or hard-boiled, our eggs have a remarkable depth of flavour. The buttery, rich and complex taste of our eggs really stands out in a dish like scrambled eggs - you hardly have to add any butter or cream!
Many people tell us that egganic eggs remind them of the eggs they had from backyard chooks when they were growing up. They also say that one can truly can taste the difference!
We invite you to compare our eggs to other free-range and organic producers on the market. We think that you’ll find the "egganic taste" quite unique indeed.
BEEF
We only stock Grass fed and finished beef. We source beef from Figtree Organic Farms. They have two properties one near Grafton and the other in Inverell in Northern NSW. Farmers Henry and Glenn are passionate about growing healthy and tasty beef, here is their story.
“At FigTrees Organic Farms we believe that the quality of beef should be determined not only on the visual appeal of the beef, but more importantly on the degree of healthy fats and protein which the beef contains.
To ensure the high standard of meat required by our outlets we use only the highest quality Hereford bulls available, generally sourced from Steve Collins 'Glenwarrah' Hereford stud, one of the industry's most respected breeders for meat quality.
The cattle are grazed exclusively on pastures because this ensures not only that the nutritional quality and flavour of the beef is the highest standard possible, but also that the cattle are raised ethically in their natural environment. By consuming beef from FigTrees Organic Farms you will be tasting beef the way nature intended it to be - naturally healthy for you.
At 'Billabong', Inverell our yearling and two year old beef is fed on a diverse high quality native and improved pasture in the foothills above Inverell and is a product that we are extremely proud of.
At 'Wilton Park', Grafton we specialise in producing top quality milk veal coming off healthy pastures on the Clarence River flood plain.
Through our commitment to organic and holistic farming you can be assured that our products not only taste great but they are also taking care of your health, farm health and the health of our surrounding environment and water systems.
We also stock Cape Grim Grass fed beef from Tasmania to supplement the beef form Figtree.
Some information from Cape Grim themselves
THE PUREST AIR IN THE WORLD.
Crystal clear air isn’t the only thing Cape Grim has going for it, though: rain quality hangs on air quality, so the rain is the world’s purest too.
Given that it rains in Cape Grim for 187 days a year on average, the pasture there makes for perfect grazing land.
So it’s hardly surprising that the British breeds of Cape Grim Beef, lungs full of clean air and bellies busy digesting the superior pastures on offer, have earned themselves a reputation for providing premium-grade beef, sought after by butchers and chefs who have built their careers on choosing the best produce and letting it speak for itself.
CAPE GRIM BEEF IS GUARANTEED TO BE TENDER, JUICY AND OF THE HIGHEST EATING QUALITY.
Compared to other beef products you should find it to have a rich and full flavour – reflecting the grass-only diet of the cattle.
And as required by Tasmanian law, it is completely free of hormone growth promotants.
- Hormone free
- Antibiotic free
- GMO free
- British breed beef only
- Graded to four & five star MSA tenderness grades
- Naturally marbled for maximum juiciness and flavour
- Humanely & Sustainably grown
LAMB
We now source our lamb exclusively from Will and Nick at Malone Lamb in South Australia. Will and Nick are third-generation lamb producers, and they know their stuff. Their lamb is some of the tastiest we have ever had because their lamb, like our beef, must be grass-fed and grass-finished. They also produce a very nice drop of wine. Bonus! In 2014 their Lamb won Gold Medals and Champion Grass fed Lamb at the Sydney fine food awards and a gold medal in The Australias best lamb awards. In 2015 they won gold and Silver awards also. We believe that the Malone lamb is so good we don't bother using our own. Its not that we can't produce great lamb its just that we believe the Malone lamb is better! Try it for yourself.
Here is their story
Malone Lamb has been grown on our family farm near Naracoorte in South Australia’s Wrattonbully region since the 1940s. Sheep breeding has been at the heart of our farming business for four generations. Our sheep were originally bred for fine wool but over the past 70 years we have introduced new breeds and refined our minimum-stress management approach specifically to produce the finest quality meat.
Naracoorte (see Our Story) is renowned as one of the best prime lamb farming regions in Australia. Locals call it “Big Gum Country”, as our sheep graze among the majestic red gums, some as old as 700 years. Good reliable rainfall in winter and spring and plentiful underground water compliment our terrain, providing high quality natural feed all year round.
We believe stock health and well-being is the most important aspect of any livestock enterprise. We aim to achieve this by implementing the same integrated management program on our four properties.
Our lambs are mothered by Border Leicester/Merino Cross ewes, a breed that is renowned for its fantastic maternal qualities. These ewes are produced just north of Naracoorte on our Woodalla property. Its slightly warmer climate and abundance of trees provides excellent shelter for lambing ewes.
Poll Dorset and Whiteface Suffolk rams are the sires used in our flock. The Poll Dorset provides a strong, robust lamb that matures early in the season. The Suffolk is primarily used over maiden ewes as a lower birth weight lamb, assists them in having their first born, whilst providing us with lambs that mature slightly later in the season.
Careful pasture management provides our sheep with the right nutrition year-round. Our rainfall patterns mean that in most seasons, our lambs born in late autumn/early winter have lush green pasture which eliminates stress at this critical time. Before lambing, the ewes are individually scanned and put into separate groups for single births and twin births. Our irrigated pastures are generally set aside for the twinning ewes and the remainder go onto renovated pastures.
Pasture renovation is important to ensure pasture production is at an optimum. These new pastures consist of lucerne, clover and grasses, and are sown as part of a rotation plan designed to suit the soil profiles of the individual properties. During dry seasons, lucerne and pasture hay is used to supplement the nutritional requirement of the sheep. Crop stubbles are also grazed, allowing us to rest our pastures during summer months. All our hay is produced on farm and gives a constant food supply in those years when we get a late rains or when the rains are early and don’t persist.
We have started the Malone Lamb brand to provide our customers with a consistent high quality product. The lambs leaving our property do so in small numbers and get to you in the most direct manor possible.
Malone Lamb is available exclusively through The Ethical Farmers.
PORK
Our pork comes from John and Julia Cordukes at Wollondale in the Southern tablelands. They breed Large Black pigs, and raise them free-range on their property near Goulburn in southern NSW. The pigs are healthy, happy, and free to roam in the fresh air and sunlight. They also feed on pasture and grain and have plenty of water and shade.
POULTRY
Poultry
As with our layer hens which provide us with beautiful egganic eggs we use the same ethical and organic farming practices for our delicious meat birds.
We raise our Heritage and Table birds from one day old chicks which enables us to manage them in an ethical and sustainable manner for the duration of their life. We feed them certified organic feed that is naturally GMO and medication free and we graze them on pristine fresh pasture where they forage for grubs and bugs.
Our heritage birds are a Transylvanian Naked Neck cross which are supplied to us as 1 day old chicks from Heritage Poultry. The birds are especially bred from old breeds which are slow growing and so enables their breast and legs to grow at the same rate which makes them suited to pasture grazing and outdoor Australian conditions.
Our table birds are a standard commercial chicken but unlike most that are grown in large sheds and slaughtered in 35 or so days, we raise them outside in paddocks and supplement feed them with a much lower protein feed. The low protein feed enables our table birds to be grown out for at least 70 days.
The flavour and texture of the Ethical Farmers chickens are unique and a must try.
You will find our chickens are mostly bigger than perhaps what you are used to buying so this means they need longer cooking but also they go much further than just one meal!
Rest assured that all of our chickens have a happy healthy life!
DAIRY
We have a fine selection of quality dairy, including some of the best
organic yoghurt and cheese on the market:
- Pepe Saya Cultured Butter
- Fromart (genuine handcrafted Swiss cheese)
- Paris Creek Organic Cheese
- Barambah Organic Cheese & Yoghurt
- Elgaar Organic Cheese, Yoghurt, Milk & Cream
- Ivyhome Organic Whole Milk Yoghurt
- Sacred Earth Organic Ghee
CONDIMENTS
To complement your meat, we sell a wide range of organic and wild-crafted herbs, spices, condiments and sauces. Items include:
- Ovvio Organic (Herbs, Spices, Blends and Teas)
- Fresh Coconuts and Coconut Oil
- Pasta and Pasta Sauces
- Extra Virgin Organic Olive Oils
- Activated Nuts & Healthy Kids Snacks
- Organic Tomato Ketchup, Tamari Sauce (Organic Fermented Soy Sauce)
- Himalayan Rock Salt & Epsom Salts (great for soaking tired muscles in the bath)
- Seasonal fruit and vegetables
