Animal care in practice

We don’t separate animal welfare from farming — it is the system.

Healthy animals come from the way they live, what they eat, and how they’re handled day to day.

Our approach is guided by the Australian National Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Produce and supported by a range of animal welfare and industry standards, alongside our own documented management and assessment.

We are not certified under these schemes, but we operate in line with them and track our compliance through our Farm Management Plan.

What that means on our farm

In reality this breaks down into the benefits below.

Space, movement, and natural behaviour

Our animals are raised with space to move, graze, and behave naturally.

  • Sheep and cattle range freely across our whole lower paddock blocks
  • Pigs are managed in rotational systems with access to open space, or roam free
  • Shelter is provided for when they want it

Stocking rates are deliberately low to avoid stress and environmental damage.

Nutrition comes first

Animal health starts with feed.

  • Our animals are fed organic or on-farm food only
  • Diets are built from natural sources—grains, forage, and seasonal feed
  • Pigs are raised on a diverse diet including chestnuts, grains, nuts, fruits, milk, and other whole foods

We do not use growth promotants or artificial feed systems.

Preventative health, not routine treatment

We focus on preventing problems rather than treating them.

This includes:

  • breed selection for resilience
  • rotational grazing
  • low stocking densities
  • high-quality nutrition

We do not use antibiotics or veterinary drugs. If an animal becomes sick or injured, it is always treated appropriately—animal welfare comes first, even if that means removing it from organic status.

Minimal intervention, handled by hand

Animals are managed calmly and directly.

  • No electric prods or force
  • Movement is by hand, at the animal’s pace
  • Transport is small-scale (mostly one animal at a time) to minimise stress

Handling is based on patience rather than control. We work with our animals, and they trust us from years of care.

Breeding and lifecycle

Our animals are raised as part of a natural system.

  • Breeding is natural
  • Animals are raised slowly, with no forced growth
  • Most livestock are born on-farm or raised long-term within the system

There is no industrial turnover—animals are part of an ongoing system

Living Conditions

We design our farm to meet the biological and behavioural needs of each animal.

This includes:

  • access to pasture
  • clean water at all times
  • shade, shelter, and weather protection
  • environments that allow natural behaviours (foraging, rooting, wallowing, grazing)

Housing is available, but animals are free to use it rather than being confined

When Intervention Is Necessary

Organic systems don’t mean no intervention—they mean considered intervention.

If an animal requires treatment:

  • it is treated promptly and appropriately
  • veterinary care is used when needed
  • records are kept
  • the animal may be removed from organic pathways if required

Welfare always overrides system rules.

How we measure animal care

We don’t rely on labels—we document and assess.

Animal management is part of our Farm Management Plan, where we assess against:

  • organic livestock requirements
  • animal welfare legislation
  • industry standards (including pork industry and RSPCA frameworks)

We maintain:

  • stocking and grazing practices
  • feed sources
  • treatment records
  • handling procedures

This is reviewed regularly as part of our internal audit process.

Standards, transparency and continual improvement

We are passionate about ethical transparency and make every effort to do our best.

Continuous Improvement

Our system is not static.

We actively identify areas for improvement—for example:

  • refining mineral supplementation
  • improving housing for certain species
  • adjusting grazing and range access within regulatory constraints

These are tracked as part of our annual assessment and updated over time.

Standards and Transparency

Our animal care practices sit within a wider framework of:

  • legislated animal welfare requirements
  • livestock management laws
  • voluntary industry standards

Some standards we are required to meet. Others we choose to follow to ensure best practice. We document our performance against these standards, even where certification is not available due to our small scale