Don’t curtail legitimate farming methods

Thank you for publishing the front page article ‘right to farm or amenity’ (Gaz 10/11).

The featured photograph of the free range egg farm and hens ranging around the chicken trailer show clearly how clean and green pasturefed free range egg farming is.

In comparison with ‘so called’ free range egg farming that has up to 10,000 hens in the space of a soccer field, pasturefed free range egg farming can be as low as 130 hens in the same space.

Pasture-fed free range egg farming is an example of a growing, innovative niche agricultural industry that is recognised as being sustainable and an ethical way of farming. Right to farm v amenity is a very important issue facing all farmers in the Gippsland region, where tree change housing and lifestyle choices are negatively impacting farming families and livelihoods.

Gippsland is the richest farming area in Victoria if not Australia and local and state government policies support ongoing farming sustainability.

As a pasture-fed free range egg farmer, I rely upon my farm being my primary source of income.

I find it quite disheartening to see people living in rural areas for amenity reasons who are not reliant upon farm income trying to curtail a farming method that meets and exceeds all regulatory requirements.