Organic Certification - Welfare:
Its a well kept secret that Organic Certification requires very high welfare standards, much higher than say ‘Free Range’ which is an EU classification. As an example below we have compared the requirements of The Soil Association (The UK’s largest Organic certification body) with the key rules on ‘Free Range’ for Chickens (Eating, not egg laying):
| Chickens |
Soil Association - Organic |
‘Free Range’ |
| Age at slaughter (min) |
81 days |
56 days |
| Space Outside |
4m sq / bird |
1m sq /bird |
| Space Inside |
10 birds / m sq |
13 birds / m sq |
| Time outside |
2/3 lifetime |
½ lifetime |
| Flock size max |
1000 birds (500 recommended) |
No limit |
| Shelter in range area |
Yes |
No |
| Fresh grass available |
2 months per year |
No |
Organic Certification –Environment
The Soil Association goes to great lengths to ensure its certified producers promote conservation and the environment. Here are a few examples;
- Farmers should keep an up to date conservation plan for the whole farm, prepared by an advisor
- Hedges must not be trimmed between 1 March and 31st August. This is to allow birds to nest
- There should be an area of uncultivated strip of grasses and flowers around any field larger than two hectares. This is to provide habitats and food for birds, mammals and insects
- Sites of conservation interest must not be damaged, except with permission, which will normally involve getting approval from an appropriate conservation agency. Any farm manager damaging a site in the previous five years cannot certify.
- To allow wildlife to travel between habitats, there should not be any more than 200 m between any part of the arable field and a permanently non-cultivated area such as a hedge, ditch or beetle bank
- No product they certify contains any GM material.