Kirkfield Eggs

Kirkfield Family Farm was established in 1912 in Manutuke to the south of Gisborne on the Poverty Bay Flats. It was run by Beau’s grandparents, Fred and Nell Kirk. In the mid 1940’s Beau’s father Rodney along with his wife Dawn continued to develop the farming operations with their young family.

The land was developed into an orchard and vineyard (one of the first that was planted for the then fledgling Montana Wines). In the 1980’s Rodney was the first to plant persimmons on a commercial scale for export to Japan. Farming continued to get more complex and intensive. A 40 plus year contract to grow grapes came to an end in 2009 and the family decided to develop a free range egg business. They sold their first eggs in 2010.

In March 2017 a Newsroom.co.nz investigation revealed millions of caged eggs were being sold at New Zealand supermarkets as free range. Industry figures say about 1 billion eggs are sold in NZ each year. Most eggs (around 70%) still come from hens housed in battery cages. But consumer demand has seen supermarket sales of free range eggs leap in the last few years.

Consumer NZ says sales of free range eggs were worth $52 million last year, making up around 30 percent of the supermarket egg trade. Eggs that carry a free range label command a premium, retailing for as much as twice the price of cage eggs. But not all free range eggs are created equal.

The minimum standards egg farmers are expected to meet are set out in the Code of Welfare for layer hens. Under one definition “free range” allows 9 hens per square metre inside and 1 hen per 4 square metres outside. There should also be perching, scratching and nesting areas provided. The code sets an outdoor stocking density for free range production of 2,500 hens per hectare but there’s no maximum flock size.

Management of the hens’ outdoor range area is expected to ensure they go outside frequently. The code recommends as “best practice” – though doesn’t prescribe – that the range area should provide trees, shrubs or other shelter to encourage the birds to leave the barn. Farms are audited by the Ministry for Primary Industries to check they’re meeting food safety standards. But the ministry’s role doesn’t extend to checking free range label claims.

Beau says that well before the March 2017 controversy, he and other free range egg producers were talking about launching a new label with their own set of standards and criteria, audited via an independent third party. Beau is currently working with Robyn Kippenberger, an auditor who has been involved with other food accreditation programmes. One of the key factors for their group of farmers, Beau says, is making sure farmers who supply free range don’t have caged operations as well as free range. 

The Kirkfield property is planted with trees to give shade and protection and the sheds have access to the outdoors 24/7. Beau says his chooks love being outside – contrary to the opinions of some farmers who claim that given a choice, chickens would rather be inside where it’s warm and there’s a ready supply of food. 

The farm covers 9 hectares and carries over 7,500 birds. Kirkfield runs six sheds with around 1800 birds to a shed. Beau says the birds arrive at 16 weeks, are usually producing at 18 weeks and by 20 weeks they are in full production. At around 70 weeks they stop being productive. 

The business employs four staff to care for the chickens, and process the 43,000 eggs that are produced each week. They market locally to Pak N Save in Gisborne and throughout the North Island, to New World supermarkets and some Four Squares. They also supply some of New Zealand’s top restaurants. 

The Kirks used to be audited by SPCA but they no longer have Blue Tick accreditation. Beau pulled out of that system because he says the SPCA now allows farms to run both cage and free-range chickens. “I felt at the time that this was a real letdown for us so we have been working with a number of other free-range farmers that only have free range.” He says they are looking at ways to have a single trustable system since all free range producers have a slight different criterion, but are all humanly farmed. He believes transparency is the key and 3^rd party audits are a “must”.

Beau is proud of the fact that the family produces a free range product. “Food is an expression of the land and environment it is grown in. We want the produce of our land - of our soil - to be simple yet wholesome.”

The “Blue Tick” is available for free-range and barn-laid eggs. Producers are audited at least annually to check they are complying with the standard. Farmers pay the SPCA royalties, based on a percentage of their sales. In the last year one company withdrew from the programme because it wasn’t happy the SPCA had given the Blue Tick to several free-range brands sold by a company that also produced cage eggs. The SPCA has previously said it wouldn't give the Blue Tick to companies which produce cage eggs because it believed they undermined the free-range market.

Michal Brooks from the Poultry Industry Association says “traceability has been on our agenda for some time. This (newsroom.co.nz) inquiry has simply accelerated our push to introduce ways to strengthen it. We are preparing a comprehensive paper of recommendations to assess the industry’s response to options. This will look at factors like cost to individual farmers, confidence in the method, and ease of implementation.” 

The allegations raise serious questions about scrutiny of egg suppliers, says an opinion writer in the Otago Daily Times. “If the free-range label is to have integrity, then suppliers need to fight to ensure the industry is properly policed.”