Oakdell Egg Farms – Salt Lake City, Utah
Back in the early 19th century, “we always gave our laying hens more space to roam around than other producers of that time,” says Mark Woodward, co-owner of the Oakdell Egg Farms. “To this day, caring about how our hens are raised remains a cornerstone of our farming philosophy.”
Mark Woodward and Cliff Lillywhite are co-owners of Oakdell Egg Farms, headquartered in North Salt Lake City, Utah. Related by marriage, the brothers-in-law say their family farm dates to 1905 when Mark’s grandfather, Cecil Woodward and his bride Bertha, received ten chickens as a wedding gift from their family. The newlyweds began incubating eggs and raising chickens, which soon numbered 500. By 1920, the couple was raising more than 2,000 laying hens in a cage-free environment.
Egg collecting was done by hand until the 1960’s when the farm introduced an automated egg collection system for their now 50,000 hens. Mark says, “The process was really semi-automated. I can remember not being allowed to open Christmas pr
esents on Christmas morning until the hens had been feed and some of the eggs were collected by hand.”
During that same period, the farm moved the birds up off the floor and worked to prevent wild birds and other animals from co-mingling with hens to reduce disease and improve food safety. After a few years though, they went back to cage-free production realizing “it’s what consumers wanted,” says Cliff.
Today, Oakdell Egg Farm’s flock live in cage-free aviaries on three of our four farms in Washington, Idaho, and Utah with 500 to 600 acres per farm. “The birds like to move vertically,” says Mark. “So, the aviaries are built high up, so the birds can perch wherever they want and roost up there when they sleep at night.”
Currently, Oakdell raises several thousand hens per farm under Certified Humane® standards.
“When we learned how in sync our own animal welfare practices were with Certified Humane’s animal welfare standards, we knew we wanted to become Certified Humane,” says Mark. “It’s a label we trust and know consumers also trust.”
Oakdell Egg Farm eggs are available in Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, and Montana. Most of Oakdell’s eggs, however, are sold under grocery store brand names, so visit Certified Humane’s “Where to Buy” page or download the app to find Certified Humane® eggs near you.
“This is a rewarding business,” says Cliff. “Not always financially, but we know we provide a high-quality food for people, and from a food safety standpoint we do all we can to make sure to provide the end user with a safe, nutritious, healthy product, while at the same time ensuring the welfare of our birds.”
To learn more, visit their website at: Oakdell Egg Farms
Posted: May 4, 2018 by Certified Humane®
Born Free Eggs
Born Free eggs are produced by approved, licensed producers on farms located throughout the United States, and are distributed locally. “The farmers are highly-focused on the humane care of the hens,” says Dave Holdsworth, Vice President of Marketing. “Producers are selected for their ability to meet our quality standards.
Amy Barkley, Quality Assurance Manager, says, “I have visited these small farms and see how the farmers take care of their birds. They know their birds and are committed to providing the highest standard of care for every bird in their flock.”
Born Free Eggs gives every farm a proprietary manual of operations, which includes Humane Farm Animal Care’s standards, to ensure the uniform and humane care of the laying hens.
“As a company, it’s critically important for us to make sure everything for the birds is done humanely,” Barkley emphasized. “The welfare of the birds is our number one concern. Certified Humane has a long and established reputation and certification standards that are on target with our ethics. Their third-party verification assures consumers our birds are receiving proper care.”
Born Free Eggs follow a dual audit process: Company veterinarians audit their farms, and HFAC’s third-party inspectors, all veterinarians and scientists with specialties in farm animal welfare, also audit farms to ensure humane standards are being met for the hens. “This is a great double check for us to pass onto the consumer,” says Barkley.
Reasons to become Certified Humane®
Born Free Eggs applied for the Certified Humane® program because they wanted a label backed by standards that were well-established and well-known in the U.S. “The free-range and pasture-range market is fragmented with so many different labels and standards, like “happy” and “natural,” that aren’t backed by standards,” says Holdsworth. “We felt it was important to bring Born Free Eggs to the rest of the U.S. with the guaranteed backing and standards of the Certified Humane label.”
“The Certified Humane market is the fastest growing market among consumers interested in free range and pastured range eggs, and retailers selling egg products,” says Holdsworth. “We recognize the power of the Certified Humane logo and the big boost the recognized credibility provides our consumers.”
Born Free Pasture-Raised hens have a housing system that provides a more expansive outdoor area that is at least equivalent in size to the indoor space, and often considerably larger. The hens can forage outside, as seasonally available. Born Free Free-Range hens are free to roam in spacious barns and have access to the outdoors. The outdoor access varies from farm to farm and can include outdoor runs that are covered with a roof to more extensive fenced pasture areas with no roof overhead.
“What aligns us with Humane Farm Animal Care is that their Animal Care Standards for the Certified Humane® program are scientifically-based,” says Barkley. “We are high on science at Born Free. We always look to science for the newest innovations, and we know Certified Humane stays up-to-date on those standards.”
Posted: April 27, 2018 by Certified Humane®
Ovobrand SA
Located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ovobrand is the largest egg farm in Argentina, operating on 320 hectares (791 acres). Its name, they say, was inspired by OVO, which means “egg,” and BRAND, for the city where it is located, Coronel Brandsen.
Their production and processing facilities are located together, which allows and facilitates the control and traceability of processes and products from the beginning to the end of the supply chain. (Traceability is a critical requirement of Humane Farm Animal Care’s Animal Care Standards.) Ovobrand receives one-day-old chicks and raises them for 18 weeks before moving them into one of their egg laying aviaries.
“We always watch over the welfare of our birds, and take great care of their health and well-being,” says Octavio Gaspar, Manager at Ovobrand. “We recognize that consumers are interested in knowing where their food comes from, choosing the most natural foods that are friendly with the environment and human health. In the case of egg production, consumers want to know that the laying hens are comfortable and allowed to express their natural behaviors.”
To meet consumer demand, Ovobrand was determined to better meet the social, mental and physical needs of their birds by beginning the conversion to a cage-free environment and “learning new production methods for raising and keeping hens cage-free,” Octavio says. “So, we started looking for a certification program with strong credentials and that was well-respected by animal organizations around the world. Several international animal welfare groups that we trusted suggested Humane Farm Animal Care’s program.”
Ovobrand agreed with HFAC’s philosophy and Animal Care Standards and requested, in 2017, to be a part of the Certified Humane Raised and Handling® program. It took a few months for Ovobrand to make the necessary changes to their barns to meet HFAC’s standards.
“We are very grateful to the Certified Humane team for helping us transition to cage-free production methods,” says Octavio. “We have already noticed that the birds are happier and that the staff working in the cage-free barn seem to have a different and more connected relationship with the hens. They interact more with each other and the hens seem more awake.”
Working under Humane Farm Animal Care’s strict protocols, Ovobrand becomes the first Argentine company to produce Certified Humane® eggs. About 150 staff work in their modern processing plant, where their wide-range of premium egg and egg products are produced, or in their barns overseeing the care and well-being of the laying hens.
“We’re not a family business, but after 10 years and with so many dedicated people, it feels like a family business,” says Octavio. “We are now glad to be a part of Humane Farm Animal Care’s family, and the Certified Humane certification program.”
To learn more, visit their website at: www.ovobrand.com.
Posted: April 27, 2018 by Certified Humane®
Huevos Santa Marta
Launched in the 1990s, this family business started poultry farming when egg distribution to supermarkets was inadequate. “The suppliers lacked distribution and eggs weren’t always available,” says Jose Luis Moure Barros, General Manager.
So Agrícola Santa Marta de Liray S.A. initiated a start-up egg farm with special emphasis on delivering to large supermarkets. Working with the veterinary community, the farm’s staff learned how to raise and care for laying hens through on-going trainings that are part of the company’s overall policies on animal welfare.
Today, more than 220 employees care for 700,000 laying hens in state-of-the-art facilities. In 2018, the farm introduced higher animal welfare standards by launching the Certified Humane® program with 11,000 of its hens.
“After an international certification analysis and because of Humane Farm Animal Care’s mission towards farm animal welfare all over the world, we believe that Certified Humane® brings together everything we need, in terms of animal welfare and consumer credibility,” says Jose Luis Moure Oportot, Founder and CEO.
“The development of the cage-free egg market and the company’s commitment to animal welfare made it an easy decision to join the Certified Humane® program,” says Jose Luis Moure Barros, General Manager. “It makes us happy to see the birds showing their natural behaviors, like running and dust bathing.”
Barros says Huevos Santa Marta is a company committed not just to the hens, but to the environment. The farm’s on-site composting plant produces high-quality compost from the laying hens manure, which is applied as fertilizer on agricultural land. “Because it’s created by means of an automated aerobic composting system, the process doesn’t produce methane (CH4) and greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming,” says Barros.
Huevos Santa Marta’s cage-free eggs are available in Cencosud, within Jumbo stores – one of the largest supermarket chains in Chile.
To learn more, visit their website at: www.asml.cl
Posted: February 27, 2018 by Certified Humane®
Oakdell Egg Farms
Oakdell Egg Farms – Salt Lake City, Utah
Back in the early 19th century, “we always gave our laying hens more space to roam around than other producers of that time,” says Mark Woodward, co-owner of the Oakdell Egg Farms. “To this day, caring about how our hens are raised remains a cornerstone of our farming philosophy.”
Mark Woodward and Cliff Lillywhite are co-owners of Oakdell Egg Farms, headquartered in North Salt Lake City, Utah. Related by marriage, the brothers-in-law say their family farm dates to 1905 when Mark’s grandfather, Cecil Woodward and his bride Bertha, received ten chickens as a wedding gift from their family. The newlyweds began incubating eggs and raising chickens, which soon numbered 500. By 1920, the couple was raising more than 2,000 laying hens in a cage-free environment.
Egg collecting was done by hand until the 1960’s when the farm introduced an automated egg collection system for their now 50,000 hens. Mark says, “The process was really semi-automated. I can remember not being allowed to open Christmas pr
esents on Christmas morning until the hens had been feed and some of the eggs were collected by hand.”
During that same period, the farm moved the birds up off the floor and worked to prevent wild birds and other animals from co-mingling with hens to reduce disease and improve food safety. After a few years though, they went back to cage-free production realizing “it’s what consumers wanted,” says Cliff.
Today, Oakdell Egg Farm’s flock live in cage-free aviaries on three of our four farms in Washington, Idaho, and Utah with 500 to 600 acres per farm. “The birds like to move vertically,” says Mark. “So, the aviaries are built high up, so the birds can perch wherever they want and roost up there when they sleep at night.”
Currently, Oakdell raises several thousand hens per farm under Certified Humane® standards.
“When we learned how in sync our own animal welfare practices were with Certified Humane’s animal welfare standards, we knew we wanted to become Certified Humane,” says Mark. “It’s a label we trust and know consumers also trust.”
Oakdell Egg Farm eggs are available in Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, and Montana. Most of Oakdell’s eggs, however, are sold under grocery store brand names, so visit Certified Humane’s “Where to Buy” page or download the app to find Certified Humane® eggs near you.
“This is a rewarding business,” says Cliff. “Not always financially, but we know we provide a high-quality food for people, and from a food safety standpoint we do all we can to make sure to provide the end user with a safe, nutritious, healthy product, while at the same time ensuring the welfare of our birds.”
To learn more, visit their website at: Oakdell Egg Farms
Posted: February 21, 2018 by Certified Humane®
duBreton
DuBreton® offers a complete line of the highest quality pork products from pigs raised and processed to the highest standards of quality and animal care. DuBreton’s Rustic Farm Pork and Organic lines have an increased focus on humane farming techniques and respect the Certified Humane® standards. They were the first Certified Humane® producers in North America and again today, the only Certified Humane® pork producer in Canada
To learn more, visit their website here DuBreton.com/en
For information on where to find other Certified Humane® products in your area, visit the “Shop” page of HFAC’s website.