Pastured definition:
"All livestock are raised outdoors with continuous and unrestricted daytime access to paddocks that are suitable for grazing and are provided with shade and shelter. All animals must use the paddocks each day unless; they choose to shelter because of inclement weather, short term confinement for veterinary treatment or when giving birth. Feed supplements are available to ensure all their nutritional needs are met. Animals are kept at a stocking intensity that will ensure forage is always available in a sustainably managed rotational grazing system."
To become certified, a farm must commit to the PROOF Core Values and Standards.
Before a farm can become certified, they must provide verification evidence that they comply with our standards and carry out a thorough self assessment in the form of an internal audit. Farms are re-appraised every year to ensure on going compliance with our standards.
Transparency is important to us so all our Licensed farms are displayed on our website along with their contact details. A farm listing may also display different levels of commitment by the producer to animal welfare and the training they have undertaken. When you see the School of Humane Farm Management badge, you know that this farm has taken their responsibility to their animals very seriously.
PROOF stands for 'PASTURE RAISED ON OPEN FIELDS' because that's what we believe free range means. Pigs and chickens were designed to forage in forest and grasslands and our farmers strive to offer the most natural conditions to their animals that controlled farming will allow. It will come as no surprise that the farmers that follow this philosophy pride themselves on not being a part of the industrial model for food production. They are driven by passion and farming means something more to them than getting the maximum number of animals on the minimum amount of land.
Good old fashioned values, wholesome food that is farmed sustainably, the best free range produce, that's what we aim to bring to you. You may not find what our farmers offer in the supermarkets but that just means adopting some old fashioned traditions yourself by supporting local grocers, butchers, deli's and farmers markets.
The Free Range Label
The free range label has lost its way. A lack of transparency in the industry and changes to the free range definition have meant that free range has simply become a marketing tool with very little real meaning. We need PROOF that the animals used to produce the pastured eggs, pork, beef and lamb we buy did actually spend their lives grazing on pastures and being free to express their instinctive natures outside in the sunshine in an environment as close to nature as controlled farming will allow.
It is so difficult to see through all the feel good fluffy descriptors on many free range products. Look for pork, chicken and eggs that are part of an certification program so that you know the label claims are genuine. Ask for PROOF.
Our Core Values
- All animals* are able to range freely in open fields or paddocks
- Animals will not be kept in cages, stalls or crates
- All animals are kept at stocking densities that will ensure access to forage and grazing and; in the case of layer hens, shall not exceed 1,500 per hectare
- Densely confined production systems and feed lotting are not practiced
- All animals are able to interact with their herd or flock and to carry out natural behaviours
- All animals should thrive in their environment and not just cope with it
- All animals will be protected from predators
- Illness or injury will be addressed promptly so that no animal will be left to suffer
- Animals will be fed to meet their welfare needs as well as production requirements
- Surgical treatments that inflict unnecessary pain will not be performed
- There will be no use of growth promoters
- Pastured free range should be environmentally, economically and socially sustainable
*with the exception of very young poultry that are not yet sufficiently feathered and poultry that must be protected from predation at night.
