Mirboo Pastured Poultry, Stokes River Chickens, Milking Yard Farm: Meat chicken farmers call it quits

Pastured poultry producers have been squeezed out of the industry, with just two still operating in Victoria. This is their story.

GIPPSLAND chicken farmer Ilan Goldman will soon be an empty nester, as he joins a throng of small-scale pastured poultry producers to leave the industry in the past year.

A slowdown in consumer demand at farmers’ markets, amid soaring fuel and feed costs, has been the breaking point, say farmers.

Ilan Goldman, of Mirboo Pastured Poultry at Mirboo North, raised his meat chickens in mobile hutches, moved to fresh pasture daily to give birds constant access to the outdoors so they could graze and fertilise paddocks. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

“My sales have gone down, and my costs have gone up. And that hurts,” Mr Goldman said.

“Instead of buying my pastured poultry, (customers) now buy a free-range chicken from the supermarket, even though I’d argue there is a huge difference in how it is grown.”

Mr Goldman had run Mirboo Pastured Poultry for nine years, selling through farmers’ markets and direct delivery. He had recently invested in infrastructure to cater for a surge in demand during the pandemic, but would now look for a job in IT.

Western Victoria producers Kate and Craig Mibus, of Stokes River Chickens at Digby, also made the “monumental decision” this month to stop raising pastured meat chickens, after market sales in the second half of last year were “drastically reduced”.

Kate Mibus on her property at Digby where she and husband, Craig, had run pastured meat chickens for the past six years. Picture: Karla Northcott

“I’m really sad about the whole thing,” said Ms Mibus, who had opened an own on-farm abattoir in November 2021 to try to reduce the risk of losing access to processing.

There are very few abattoirs in Victoria that will process small batches of birds.

Trentham farmer Bruce Burton, of Milking Yard Farm, wound up his meat operation last year due to processing challenges, but said he hadn’t experienced any decline in demand.

“The business was performing well,” he said. “The primary thing for us was … we were faced with losing access to an abattoir.”

Xavier Prime of Chooks at the Rooke has won a Delicious Produce award for his pastured chickens, which he rears from day-old male chicks that would otherwise be a waste product from the egg industry. He sells to high-end restaurants and sees potential in home deliveries. Picture: Supplied

Mandy and Ian McClaren of Yapunyah Meadow Grazed Chickens at Graytown. Picture: Zoe Phillips

The only two remaining pastured poultry producers in Victoria are Xavier Prime, of Chooks at the Rooke near Colac, and Mandy and Ian McClaren, of Yapunyah Meadow Grazed Chickens in central Victoria.

Both say they are concerned about access to processing, but are positive about the growth prospects in the industry.

Mr Prime sells directly to high-end restaurants across Australia, with a sharp focus on quality. He plans to expand production from 600 birds a month to 1000 a month, and is interested in branching into home delivery.

Ms McClaren said they sold mainly through farmers’ markets, and made a concerted effort to keep prices affordable, charging a flat rate of $29 for whole birds, averaging 2kg, for the past 10 years.

She said they would have to put prices up “marginally” this year to cover rising costs, but believed customers would continue to buy.