Speaking Out
This new page gives us a forum for expressing our concerns about family farming, sustainability, humane treatment, environmental protection and food ethics.
There has recently been a lot talk about inhumane animal treatment. We take humane treatment of our chickens very seriously.
It's a chicken's life
The next time someone asks you why the chicken crossed the road, you can answer because she wanted to do.
I've learned from working with chickens over the years that they have definite behavioral preferences. If I provide a humane cage-free environment with plenty of good food and water, our birds are happier, healthier and more productive.
Humane treatment has been important to me since I was a kid. I learned to raise chickens by working on the family farm and knew from the beginning I wanted to run a humane operation. I came to appreciate their individual personalities from having a pet hen named Nellie. She had quite a personality with real likes and dislikes.
So humane treatment became our mission at Pete and Gerry's, and we're committed to it. We do everything we can to make sure our chickens are well taken care of.
Cage-free farming lets chickens act naturally
Chickens in cages simply can't act like chickens. They're very social creatures that like to congregate in groups with a pecking order. Most hens chose an area within the henhouse to eat, roost, scratch and lay eggs and then pretty much stay in that area.
The hens like moving around, so we provide them with multi-level platforms. They like roosting together, so we install lots of perches. They like to scratch, so we offer plenty of clean scratch areas. And they're very sensitive to light, so we carefully regulate the lighting in our barns, changing light levels twice a day to encourage roosting.
We strive to create a natural, low-stress environment for our chickens.
Humane treatment and food safety go hand-in-hand
Clean barns are essential to maintaining chicken health and product safety. We remove manure twice a day and measure air quality weekly.
To ensure product safety, we use organic soap to sanitize our eggs with closely regulated water temperature and chlorine levels. Then we filter and recycle the wash water. Everything is computer controlled with an alarm warning system if anything is out of spec. The eggs are immediately cooled, and all cartons are time-and-date stamped to track product freshness.
Hormones are not allowing in poultry farming, and we don't use non-therapeutic drugs. Flock health and bio-security are ongoing challenges, but good management helps us overcome these difficulties.
Certified Humane farming protects our customers
Pete and Gerry's was the first cage-free egg farm in the country to receive humane certification. We approached Humane Farm Animal Care soon after they formed in 2003 because we wanted our customers to know that we treat our chickens humanely.
Their Certified Humane requirements cover environmental conditions including cleanliness, ventilation, temperature, lighting, waste removal and outdoor access; location and number of feed and water stations; space allowance for nesting, scratching and roosting; plus healthcare and inspection record keeping. It's a long list of requirements, but we take pride in meeting every one.
Humane farming is good business
In recent years, food production has focused on lowering costs rather than humane treatment. We use automation and knowledge of chicken behavior to remain price competitive. Our capital costs are somewhat higher, but the small increase in production cost per egg is worth it to us and to our loyal customers.
Selective breeding has generally made chickens more productive, but a healthy environment and humane treatment further enhance flock productivity. Humane farming pays off because humanely treated animals are healthier.
And humane farming doesn't have to be inefficient. We combine our knowledge of chicken behavior with the latest technology to compete with large factory farms. Smart use of automation helps us increase our efficiency and productivity.
Consumers lead the way to more humane treatment
Food production is controlled by what people buy. As consumers become more aware of farming techniques, they can encourage humane animal treatment by the way they shop. They can show they're willing to pay a little more for humanely treated animal products.
The bottom line for us at Pete and Gerry's is that we provide better food while treating the animals in our care with dignity and respect.
Responsible Farming
Growing up on the same New Hampshire farm that my great-grandfather worked a hundred years ago gave me an appreciation for farming that has stayed with me. I learned to raise chickens by working on the farm and knew from the beginning I wanted a humane farm with organic produce.
Running a growing business without sacrificing my commitment to small-scale farming, organic foods, humane treatment of animals and conservation is a constant struggle for me.
The quest for profitability has made farming very energy inefficient; and farms use a lot of energy. Farmers have become more focused on productivity and mechanization than energy conservation.
At our farm, we're using energy conservation to lower our energy costs and improve profitability. We switched from incandescent to fluorescent lighting in all our buildings. We turn off the barn lights during the day and use natural light from windows instead. And we schedule our deliveries to coincide with pickups from our family farms to eliminate empty trucks.
Farming has also been environmentally insensitive. The overuse of pesticides has created pesticide-resistant weeds and insects. The overuse of commercial fertilizers has created a deficit in nutrients and micro-components in the soil, which then requires more fertilizers.
As an organic farm, we're supporting an alternate approach. Our requirement for organic feed keeps farmers in business raising organic grains. The next step is to find a way to close the loop and get our manure back to the farms that supply us.
Like any business, farming also generates a lot of waste--from packaging to animal waste. This impacts energy use and the environment.
Our goal is to become a zero-waste facility. We installed a cardboard compactor on site so we can recycle cardboard waste. We recycle our plastic cartons. We compost our hen manure using an in-vessel composting system and share it with local farmers for their fields.
And to help preserve family farming, we're recruiting other small family farms to join us as suppliers. We've added three other New England family farms and we're talking with two more. They're all good, hard-working people who believe in family farming.
This is important for several reasons. In addition to providing safe nutritious foods, they live on their farms and preserve the surrounding environment for future generations. And because they have a vested interest in their communities, they're more likely to use sustainable farming techniques to protect natural resources and human health.
How can one small farmer make a difference?
The first step is for all of us to become aware of our energy use and our environmental impact. Then take successive steps to make changes.
Our farm is almost self-sustaining and we're working toward 100%. We're currently looking at several options for on-site energy production. And we're working toward becoming a zero-waste facility.
As farmers, we can set an example as responsible stewards of the land. We can conserve energy, protect the environment and still make a good living.
I look forward to not having the rubbish truck come to our farm, and instead send all waste back to our suppliers. I like knowing that a few thousand acres of corn or soy will not receive pesticides or commercial fertilizer for our grain. And I take pride in my small part in making the world better for all of us.
