Farming standards

[k8bug79]

Hi, I just wanted some opinions on the above subject. I don't wish to start a huge debate but I was a strict veggie for many years due to the farming standards in Britain. I started eating fish about 10 years ago now and moved to add Free Range chicken about 3 years ago now. I am starting to contemplate adding red meat back into my diet. I don't necessarily think the standards in the UK have reached a stage where I am totally happy wth them but I do think as a whole they are better. But there are various reasosns I am considering it , which I won't go into now because they are my issues.

 

One of the many reasons and admittadly quite a minor reason is that Oz seems to be a very meat eating country and I did think it may be easier to eat that too. But with this issue in mind I wante dto find out a bit about the way animlas are farmed over there. I know Australia and New Zealand are known for their lamb but is their meat a better standard?

 

I don't want to start a huge politocal debate on the rights and wrongs of farming, so a simple better/ worse would suffice if you don't wish to divulge your opinions.

Thanks for your help

Kate

[Bobj]

Hi, I just wanted some opinions on the above subject. I don't wish to start a huge debate but I was a strict veggie for many years due to the farming standards in Britain. I started eating fish about 10 years ago now and moved to add Free Range chicken about 3 years ago now. I am starting to contemplate adding red meat back into my diet. I don't necessarily think the standards in the UK have reached a stage where I am totally happy wth them but I do think as a whole they are better. But there are various reasosns I am considering it , which I won't go into now because they are my issues.

 

One of the many reasons and admittadly quite a minor reason is that Oz seems to be a very meat eating country and I did think it may be easier to eat that too. But with this issue in mind I wanted to find out a bit about the way animlas are farmed over there. I know Australia and New Zealand are known for their lamb but is their meat a better standard?

 

I don't want to start a huge politocal debate on the rights and wrongs of farming, so a simple better/ worse would suffice if you don't wish to divulge your opinions.

Thanks for your help

Kate

 

Better you come over and find out for yourself mate, as everyone has their own tastes.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[Guest guest37336]

Hi Kate.

Some of the meat products in Australia are great, whilst others, awful. I guess it's a matter of taste really, (no pun intended). A recent statistical report says that approximately 3% are wholly vegetarian in UK, whilst in Australia this number is nearer 5%. Hope this helps.

[BuddysMum]

I share some of your concerns.

 

I am reading your post as you being concerned about animal welfare rather than the taste of the meat, am I correct?

 

Firstly, the meat over here is fantastic. It tastes as it should and it is generally much less expensive than the UK. I think that may be an indication that they are pumping fewer antibiotics and hormones into their livestock.

 

However, I have suspicions that they are less concerned about battery farming methods etc although I have nothing to base that on.

 

We have been here just one month today, so to be honest, I have taken a kind of "shut my eyes and eat it" approach up to now. I know...but there's so much else going on!

 

Anyway, I would love to find out more. There does seem to be a free range option on eggs, but I haven't seen that with meat so it may be that there is no need as it is all free range, or it could just be that the demand is low.

 

I am not sure how you find out......

[Guest missvet]

Hi, I just wanted some opinions on the above subject. I don't wish to start a huge debate but I was a strict veggie for many years due to the farming standards in Britain. I started eating fish about 10 years ago now and moved to add Free Range chicken about 3 years ago now. I am starting to contemplate adding red meat back into my diet. I don't necessarily think the standards in the UK have reached a stage where I am totally happy wth them but I do think as a whole they are better. But there are various reasosns I am considering it , which I won't go into now because they are my issues.

 

One of the many reasons and admittadly quite a minor reason is that Oz seems to be a very meat eating country and I did think it may be easier to eat that too. But with this issue in mind I wante dto find out a bit about the way animlas are farmed over there. I know Australia and New Zealand are known for their lamb but is their meat a better standard?

 

I don't want to start a huge politocal debate on the rights and wrongs of farming, so a simple better/ worse would suffice if you don't wish to divulge your opinions.

Thanks for your help

Kate

 

Hi Kate,

 

This is a little way off your original question but I feel the need to make this point as a vet who has had quite a lot of experience in and around the farming industry. I am also an avid supporter of good animal welfare (why I became a vet) but have not yet moved to Australia to be able to make the comparison you are asking about.

 

I have worked on farms (beef, dairy and sheep) in the UK as well as spending compulsory time in an abattoir. My concerns are far more for the poor dairy cows than any of the others. As a generalisation, dairy cows are kept in much worse states and suffer many more "diseases/conditions". They are basically milking machines forced to produce more than what is often metabolically possible for them. Many are lame (some crippled), fed inappropriate diets and veterinary treatment is limited because of milk withdrawal times.

 

This is just my opinion but is also shared by other vets who have seen and been able to compare as I have. I personally am not a vegetarian but if I was to make a stand based on animal welfare grounds I would not eat/drink dairy! Controversial I know but I've seen it with my own eyes!! Don't get me wrong, some dairy farms treat their cows very well and some beef farms treat their cows not so well but generally dairy cows have a worse deal...

 

When I finally make it to Oz maybe I can answer your original question if no one else can in the meantime!

[Skani]

I don't want to start a huge politocal debate on the rights and wrongs of farming, so a simple better/ worse would suffice if y

Kate

 

It's impossible to give a simple better/worse because of the size of the country, diversity of climate and variations in regulations in Australia.

 

Beef cattle production in tropical northern Australia on a million acre cattle station is very different to raising beef cattle on a 50 acre property in southern Tasmania.

In addition, each state has its own laws governing agricultural production.

 

However, there is choice - free range or barn laid eggs if you object to caged layers (which I do), free range pork, beef from free ranging grass fed animals rather than those stuck in feed lots, dairy from small organic/ biodynamic farms etc.

 

It's just a matter of finding the appropriate suppliers in your local area.

[k8bug79]

Thank you all for your answers. It is the standard of the welfare as opposed to the taste. Hormones are another concern as I couldn't eat meat becasue it used to send me doolally when I was younger, I am so sensitive to Hormones, nota pretty sight. I couldn't eat/drink Dairy for a long time either. I think the act that this is not the case shows an improvement in farming in itself, I am presuming in the last x amount of years things have had to change. I am hoping, maybe naiively, that the fact Australia is largera nd therefore hopefully land isn't ata premium that this means if nothing else the animals are given freedom to roam, but I fear that the price of the meat shows that this isn't the case. I guess there is no reason why I couldn't start to eat meat again over here and stop if I didn't like it over there, but then part of me wonders what would be the point.

Thanks for your views. All very helpful

[Skani]

Hormones are another concern ... I am hoping, maybe naiively, that the fact Australia is largera nd therefore hopefully land isn't ata premium that this means if nothing else the animals are given freedom to roaml

 

As mentioned, laws vary from state to state. In Tasmania, where I live, meat is hormone and antibiotic free.

Re free roaming: all sheep and goats are, most beef are, although some are produced in feed lots, but I believe this is mostly for the export market - a preference dictated by the buyers like Japan.

Dairy cattle are, most pigs aren't, although there is a growing "niche market" of free range pork.

Most poultry isn't, although I believe that anywhere in Australia you would have access to free range eggs and chicken/turkey meat.

[janine the party queen]

We have a lovely butcher near our house that sells organic and hormone free meat.It also tells you whiich herd the meat came from.Im pretty sure other towns must have these kind of butchers.

[Guest wanderer]

Hi, I just wanted some opinions on the above subject. I don't wish to start a huge debate but I was a strict veggie for many years due to the farming standards in Britain. I started eating fish about 10 years ago now and moved to add Free Range chicken about 3 years ago now. I am starting to contemplate adding red meat back into my diet. I don't necessarily think the standards in the UK have reached a stage where I am totally happy wth them but I do think as a whole they are better. But there are various reasosns I am considering it , which I won't go into now because they are my issues.

 

One of the many reasons and admittadly quite a minor reason is that Oz seems to be a very meat eating country and I did think it may be easier to eat that too. But with this issue in mind I wante dto find out a bit about the way animlas are farmed over there. I know Australia and New Zealand are known for their lamb but is their meat a better standard?

 

I don't want to start a huge politocal debate on the rights and wrongs of farming, so a simple better/ worse would suffice if you don't wish to divulge your opinions.

Thanks for your help

Kate

 

The question of area has been touched on Kate and that's the huge difference between Europe/UK and the likes of Australia/US/Canada and NZ , the latter having a far greater focus on lambs for whatever reason [ as I always understood they were more prone to footrot which comes in a wetter climate/damp soil].

 

But our beef is largely of the free range nature for in addition to the area we do not have the soil/rainfall in most regions that is good for crops/grass/fodder growth and so just like our very low human density, animal density on farms can also be very low, Dairy being an exception and though I've not got the experience of Missvet, I suppose whilst farming is like most things in having a dollar bottom line, there'll also be farmers who have a greater level of care for their animals.

 

There are also grain lots, possibly where beef cattle a bit scrawny might be better fed to fatten them up prior to market.

 

And with quality of beef, it has been said that the best goes into the export market and the population at large gets what they get at the supermarket or at a butchers shop.

 

With poultry, the dollar again has seen introduction of poultry sheds on a large scale.

[k8bug79]

So hopefully I am sumarising this correctly.

But the standards vary from state to state but the quality is there is your source it. I understand that the shopping over there is not as in the UK ie you go to the individual retails like your butcher, greengrocer rather than the supermarket. In which case its no hardship to source qualiy meat you just need to find the right butcher?

All sounds better than the UK although to be fair I have never really been to a UK butcher to know whether that is really any different

 

Thanks everyone given me food for thought (no pun intended):jiggy:

[Guest guest30038]

From what I've seen, most beef cattle has huge areas to roam compared to the UK and I've never seen them fed anything other than what they walk on. I say "most" although I've never seen beef cattle on a property as small as UK properties so it could in reality, be all.

 

The standing reply in our household if we encounter a tough piece of beef (rarely [excuse the pun]) is, " no wonder it's tough, the poor bugger had to walk a thousand ks to get a drink of water" :yes:

 

kev

[Skani]

I understand that the shopping over there is not as in the UK ie you go to the individual retails like your butcher, greengrocer rather than the supermarket.

 

 

Supermarkets do have large meat and fruit/vegie sections, but you also have a choice of butcher and greengrocer shops. Some areas also have markets where it is possible to buy directly from the supplier or grower.

[Skani]

From what I've seen, most beef cattle has huge areas to roam compared to the UK and I've never seen them fed anything other than what they walk on. I say "most" although I've never seen beef cattle on a property as small as UK properties so it could in reality, be all.

 

 

Some southern cooler areas of Oz with better soil and more consistent rainfall can raise beef cattle on smaller farms - maybe not quite as small as in the UK but certainly not the humungous cattle stations of northern Australia. "Feed lot" cattle fed on grain, rather than pasture, are being prepared mostly for export markets AFAIK.

[Guest missvet]

So hopefully I am sumarising this correctly.

But the standards vary from state to state but the quality is there is your source it. I understand that the shopping over there is not as in the UK ie you go to the individual retails like your butcher, greengrocer rather than the supermarket. In which case its no hardship to source qualiy meat you just need to find the right butcher?

All sounds better than the UK although to be fair I have never really been to a UK butcher to know whether that is really any different

 

Thanks everyone given me food for thought (no pun intended):jiggy:

 

Good luck Kate!

 

Its nice to see that so many PIOs have looked into where their food comes from too... :smile:

[Mongrel]

mOST BEEF IN wa IS grass fed , restaurants should or have to state ( not sure on this) but some state grass or grain fed, as the op is a veggie ,will be rather upset in wa with the sheep buses going to the livestock express, the sheep buses are 3 or 4 tier transporters takin them to freo to board the livestock express to se asia