Intensive Agriculture Study - Yarra Ranges Council
ABN – 39 109503 835
Intensive Agriculture Study
Yarra Ranges Council
October 2014
prepared by
Tony Pitt
Des Williams
Ag-Challenge Consulting
1.Background and Objectives for this Study
Yarra Ranges’ Council is considering changes to its planning scheme to expand the areas in the municipality where intensive animal husbandry may be allowed subject to a planning permit. Within the current provisions of the scheme intensive animal husbandry is a prohibited land use in a number of rural areas including the Green Wedge Zone Schedules 1, 2 and 3 areas.
By ‘planning scheme’ definition, intensive animal husbandry means the keeping and care of agricultural animals where the primary food source is brought in from outside the holdingarea, as opposed to grazing on the land. Grazing or foraging on the land is defined as ‘extensive animal husbandry.’ With changing agricultural practicesthis definition of intensive animal husbandry now encompasses a variety of agricultural pursuits, and possibly beyond what was originally envisioned.
In considering any future changes to its planning scheme, Council wants to consider the current and emerging farming enterprises that would come under the current definition of ‘intensive animal husbandry’ and the implications of any changes to its current planning scheme. The Council does not want the provisions of the planning scheme to impose unnecessary constraints on emerging industries. This report aims to identify some of these emerging industries and examine the present controls other than planning that impact on the operation of the enterprise. The list of enterprises considered is not comprehensive but is of sufficient scope to identify where constraints may and may not exist, and what steps can be taken to reduce constraints were this is deemed appropriate.
Yarra Ranges Council would also like to consider the implications of the existing definition of intensive animal husbandry and whether there are other definitions that are more appropriate or more current. Any change to the definitionwould reflect the changes in farming systems. This will assist Council in future discussions with the State Government about the current land use definitions and Codes of Practice to facilitate a more streamlined approach to agriculture and planning.
2.Current Planning Provisions
The following provisions of the Yarra Ranges Council Planning Scheme relevant to this project are:
- The Yarra Ranges Planning scheme is guided by the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges Regional Strategy Plan
- Relevant sections of the Planning Scheme considered are:
- The Green Wedge Zone – sets out a range of purposes
- Schedule 1 – GWZ 1
- Schedule 2 – GWZ 2
- Schedule 3 - GWZ 3
- Green Wedge A Zone – prohibits intensive animal husbandry
- Rural Conservation Zone – prohibits intensive animal husbandry
- The Planning Scheme sets out in Clause 74 Land Use Terms – definition with associated Nesting Diagram Clause 75
- The definition sets out “intensive” animal husbandry - “Land used to keep or breed farm animals, including birds, by importing most food[1] from outside the enclosure …and includes:
Broiler animal production
Cattle feedlots
- Within the Schedule to Clause 53.01and under the heading “Intensive Animal Industries” the schedule states that land must not be used for intensive animal industries This applies to the 3 areas considered above (a, b, c)
Extensive animal husbandry is able to operate across these areas (a – no permit, b – no permit,c – permit required)
3.Overview of Intensive Animal Industries
Agriculture is dynamic and farms and farming practices change and will continue to change into the future as they respond to markets, consumers, environmental constraints, new farming technologies and their own financial sustainability. One change is the emergence of different forms of farming enterprises responding to an increasing number of consumers wanting food that has attributes such as organic, free range, produced locally to where it will be consumed and is environmentally and ethically responsible. National and various regional food strategies recognise these changes as an opportunity to diversify the mix and form of agricultural enterprises within a region, connecting consumers to the food production system and linking this to regional food tourism. There are opportunities to meet domestic demand as well as overseas demand.
However, in some cases these different forms of farming enterprise do not fit easily into current descriptions and definitions used to describe certain forms of agricultural activity. This is particularlytrue for animal industries, as new types of enterprises may blur between the definition of intensive and extensive, notably free range animal production systems. Any uncertainty as to what constitutes an intensive animal industry has implications for local councils and the interpretation of state and local sections of planning schemes.
Traditional production based agriculture, in most cases, has a consistency to the farming system e.g. dairy and beef (breeding or finishing) production based on rain fed or irrigated pasture production with limited off-farm feed being brought into the system. Beef production in this form is the Yarra Ranges largest animal industry, with only a few dairy farms remaining in the area. In Victoria other ‘meat’ industries predominantly involve the production of pigs, goats, veal and deer. The pork and goat industries are the largest in terms of value and volume.
While many of these livestock species are produced by commercial businesses, large numbers – particularly goats and pigs – are kept on hobby farms. In 2010, an estimated 6,039 properties had goats, pigs, alpaca or deer, but only about half of these were commercial operations. Domestic interest in meats such as pork, chevron (goat meat) and venison has increased in recent years. This has been linked to changes in the ethnic composition of Australia's population and an expansion in the tastes and preferences of consumers. Such livestock can be farmed in both extensive or intensive systems with a range of variations within these termse.g. free range pigs where all breeding and suckling animals are housed and only grower animals are allowed free range or goat production where breeding stock are run as an extensive system while young stock are finished in a semi-intensive system to specific slaughter weights.
While the production of various bird meats (chicken, turkey, pheasant, emu or ostrich) will in all cases take the form of an ‘intensive’ farming system with the bulk of feed brought onto the farm, the level of intensity does vary, and some free range systems provide a much lower risk of environmental problems. Broiler production – chicken meat - is the largest of these industries operating across Victoria. There is an increasing number of smaller enterprises operating ‘free range’ chicken meat production systems. This is also true for egg production. Again these systems have various forms, but all would be deemed ‘intensive’ as most feed consumed by the animals is from outside the property. All these production systems would thus be a prohibited use within the Green Wedge Zone schedules 1 – 3 and would require a permit in the Green Wedge Zone.
Free range production systems can take various forms and what constitutes ‘free range’ is contested and unclear – with the main issue being stocking density. Within the poultry and egg production industries, ‘truth’ in labelling as tohow the meat or eggs were produced is an ongoing debate with large retailers and animal rights groups seeking greater clarity of what a term like ‘free range’ means. In the mind of a consumer the meaning may be quite different to what happens on the farm.
It is apparent that the terms and definitions used within the State Planning Scheme do not reflect the current diversity in animal husbandry enterprises.
There are several factors that must be met for any intensive animal industry;
- Guaranteed access to water at the right quality and quantity;
- Climatic conditions in a range conducive to animal production;
- Access to a low cost reliable feed source; and
- Transportable distance to processing works.
Within this context the following enterprises would normally fall within the definition of being an intensive animal industry and thus be a prohibited land use in the Green wedge Zone Schedules 1 - 3. This list has no particular order of priority and is not comprehensive:
Free range chicken
Free range egg production
Intensive goat farming for meat
White veal
Free range pig farming
Turkey farming
Emu farming
Pheasant farming
Ostrich farming
Farmed Rabbit
Goat dairy
Sheep dairy
Free range duck
Vealer finishing – semi feedlot
Cattle feedlot
Barn laid and shed laid egg production
Chicken meat production (shed production)
Super fine wool merino in housed production
There are other enterprises that are commonly encountered on smallholdings where the stocking rates are high and as such the farming system appears to be intensive animal husbandry. However these enterprises below are essentially pasture based production systems, and either the feed maintenance requirement of the animals is low, or the management practice uses saved paddock feed to run large numbers of stock for short periods, giving the appearance of intensive animal husbandry. These systems would not usually be an intensive animal industry under the definition:
Vealer finishing – pasture based
Alpacca farming
Dairy heifer finishing
Cashmere goat farming
Holding pens for abattoirs or saleyards ( Note: abattoirs and saleyards are classified as separate land uses – not included in Intensive animal husbandry).
Within the list of intensive animal industries, the first ten enterprises have been examined in more detail. For each enterprise a tabular list has been prepared of the overall description of the industry and the enterprise, any current trends, lists of the various constraints and Industry Codes of Practice that impact on the enterprise, examine the environmental issues and planning constraints, and the options to address these issues. This has been provided in the following tables.
DRAFT ONLY for DISCUSSION. Prepared by Ag-Challenge Consulting for Yarra Ranges Council1
Intensive Agriculture Study - Yarra Ranges Council
Enterprise / Description of Enterprise / Current Status of the Industry / Current Location of Production & Trends / Minimum Holding Size / Stocking Rates / Codes of Practice & Regulatory Controls / Potential Environmental & Amenity Issues / Planning Constraints / Options to Address IssuesFree Range Pig Production /
- A free range pig herd is rotated on pastures or cropland.
- There are variations to the production system across farms e.g. sows farrow in a shed, piglets grow and are weaned in open paddock, growers may be finished in shelters
- Free-range pigs are typically kept in distinct groups based on age, sex, size, and stage of pregnancy
- They receive the majority of their nutritional needs from prepared feed in the form of a grain ration
- In the Yarra Ranges area it would be sourced from off the farm
- Paddocks where the pigs are run, would provide pasture or forage as some level of supplementary feed
- 'Free-range' implies that animals are not confined in enclosures - they may be fed in a shed, but normally have free access to paddocks
- Free range systems require specific environmental and climatic requirements thus limiting where they can be located
- Preferable geographical areas for free-range pig farming are those with low rainfall (suggested less than 750 mm a year) or moderate rainfall throughout the year with no excessive heat in summer
- Around 5 % of pigs grown in Australia are raised on free range farms
- From 2010 to 2011, the number of farming establishments with pigs declined by 23 %
- As of 30 June 2011, there were 450 establishments in Victoria with a total of 505,055 pigs, a 0.95 % reduction in pig numbers over the previous year
- Victoria has 22% of Australia’s 2.28m pigs
- Victoria's pig farms are concentrated in the Loddon, Goulburn, Wimmera and Mallee regions (85.5%of production)
- Areas with concentrated rainfall patterns, combined with extremes of humidity and/or air temperature (particularly prolonged extremes), are likely to cause stress in pigs
- The past decades trend has been for less piggeries but with larger numbers
- Between 2009 and 2011, the number of pigs slaughtered in Victoria increased by 20.6 per cent
- In 2010 83% of breeding sow herds were found on farms with less than 100 sows and 3.6 % were found on pig farms with 1,000 or more sows
- Large farms account for almost half of the Victorian herd
- Pig farms holding less than 100 sows are sometimes referred to as 'opportunistic' producers, with herd sizes fluctuating, depending on prices for pigs relative to other commodities
Space allowances for outdoor systems. Maximum stocking rate recommendations in paddocks
Dry sows / 20-25 sows/ha
Lactating sows with piglets / 9-14 sows/ha
Feeding facilities are included in this allowance.
- The amount of land required to operate a free-range piggery will be determined on a nutrient mass balance approach and is influenced by climate, soil type, cropping regimes within any keeping areas, land topography, pasture cover and SPU number kept within the areas
- On-site vegetative buffer zones around sensitive sites are required, as well appropriate separation between neighbours and the pig keeping activity.
- Queensland DPI provide an on-line calculation “the Free Range Piggery Assessment spreadsheet” which allows entering the details of a proposed free-range piggery and calculate the required area needed to accommodate a number of pigs
- Victorian Pig Welfare Standards and Guidelines.
- Code of Practice for Piggeries 1992. A planning code instructing farmers on how to set up their piggery.
- Code of Practice for the Land Transport of Pigs
- Code of Practice for the welfare of livestock at sale yards
- Traceability - Property Identification Codes for Pig Owners
- The National Environmental Guidelines for Piggeries provide a general framework for managing environmental issues Victorian State Planning Scheme
- Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme
- Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act
- Impounding of Livestock Act (ILA)
- Livestock Management Act
- Environmental Protection Act
- Port Phillip & Western Port Catchment Management Plan
- Free-range piggeries should be located on relatively flat land with a gradient and soil type that will minimise soil, and therefore nutrient, erosion from the pig keeping areas to adjacent surface waters
- Site topography is a critical issue to managing off-site impacts
- Free Range pigs should not be exposed to land with chemical contaminated soil (e.g. DDT or dieldrin)
- The stocking rate should reflect the biophysical capacity of the property to undertake an environmentally sustainable business
- E.g. accommodate the herd - to assimilate the nitrogen and phosphorus deposited by the pig herd on the pig keeping areas.
- Piggeries should be sited with an adequate separation distance to address amenity concerns
- Specifically, odor, dust and noise from the operation must not adversely impact upon neighbouring properties and communities
- A well-established and maintained vegetative buffer zone can improve visual amenity, odor dispersion and reduce dust and noise.
- Piggeries – housed or free range are not noted in the Agriculture nesting Diagram but would be captured in section 2 of GWZ – intensive animal husbandry ‘ other than’ broiler or feedlot – a catch all statement .
- In some cases animals may be slaughtered at an approved abattoir but the carcasses are returned to the property for processing and direct sale. This processing falls under the definition of ‘rural industry’ and would be permitted in the GWZ
- All piggeries, whether housed or free range, fall into the planning definition of ‘intensive animal husbandry’
- Changes to the Schedule to clause 53 to allow intensive animal husbandry with a permit
- Add to the definition of intensive animal industry to specifically have a group called ‘other’ giving examples of these; free range pig, poultry or other free range bird production
- Council could approve a planning permit for free range piggeries with the following permit conditions:
- A detailed and comprehensive Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the rotational free range piggery
- The EMP would include the methodology of calculation of the minimum ground cover of 75% required to be maintained on operational areas of the rotational piggery
- EMP would include detailed sustainable pasture management and animal husbandry management which will ensure that odor problems will not arise.
- EMP would also address how effluent management, odor and fly amenity issues would be addressed by ongoing management.
- The Guidelines for Biosolids Application to Land could be used to minimise the risk of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to soils, surface waters and groundwater
Enterprise / Description of Enterprise / Current Status of the Industry / Current Location of Production & Trends / Minimum Holding Size / Stocking Rates / Codes of Practice & Regulatory Controls / Potential Environmental & Amenity Issues / Planning Constraints / Options to Address Issues
Free Range Egg Production /
- There are three main production systems used to produce eggs; caged, barn-laid and free-range.
- The three systems of egg production are guided by the National Model code of practice for the welfare of animals - domestic poultry 4th edition
- Free range production systems provide birds with the ability to range or move around in both indoor and outdoor areas
- Birds can nest, dust bathe, perch and move freely.