FREPA Accredited Farms: Some facts and figures
Production of chicken meat using free range farming principles has grown strongly over recent years. It is estimated that in 2011 some 10% of all chicken meat produced in Australia comes from free range operations, with the great majority being accredited by FREPA Ltd.
Well over 100 meat chicken farms are currently FREPA accredited. The number of egg farms accredited by FREPA is relatively small (4 as of 10 Jan 2011) while accreditation of turkey farms under the recently developed FREPA Turkey free range standard is expected to grow from a small base of currently 5 accredited farms.
FREPA accredited meat chicken farms can be found right around Australia, as well as in New Zealand. While the origins of FREPA were in Victoria in the 1990s, the company has now accredited farms in each of the States.
In terms of production volume, NSW leads with about 25%, followed by Victoria (21%), Queensland (19%), South Australia (15%), WA (13%) and Tasmania (5%).
