Fair Farm Colorado, a CCOF member based in Longmont, Colorado, is the first egg operation to be certified to the Laying Hen and Pullet standards of the Global Animal Partnership (GAP), a comprehensive farm animal welfare standards program. Fair Farm Colorado’s operation is certified to GAP’s Entire Life on Farm (Step 5+).
“Fair Farm just received GAP’s top animal welfare rating for a laying hen farm,” said Walt Pounds, Fair Farm’s founder and CEO. “We at Fair Farm Colorado are honored and excited to become the first egg operation to partner with the Global Animal Partnership,” he said.
Following a career in technology, Pounds said he set out on a mission to provide animal welfare and organically certified eggs for the local economy in Boulder County. With birds certified from one day of age onward, his operation uses mobile coops on 60-plus acres, providing the pullets (young hens) and adult hens with continuous access to fresh pasture while contributing to soil health and preservation.
Anne Malleau, GAP’s executive director, said, “We are so happy to announce our new partnership with Fair Farm Colorado. Our animal welfare standards are grounded in science and focused on the animal, but practical to producers of any size and scale. Being certified to the top level of GAP’s animal welfare program, Fair Farm is the perfect fit as our first-ever certified laying hen operation. Our GAP Animal Welfare Certified label includes other farm animal species—beef, chicken, pigs, turkey, goat, lamb—and now laying hens thanks to Walt and his team.”
“GAP has very deep animal behavior and production knowledge that will allow us to collaborate on methods to continually improve care for our hens, which is a top priority at Fair Farm. GAP leads the way to improving animal welfare, and we look forward to our new partnership,” said Pounds.
Pounds and his small team manage all facets of the operation, including raising and caring for the hens, egg collection and preparation, sales, and marketing. The company says Boulder area chefs have been flocking to Fair Farm Colorado since its inception, and Pounds plans to extend his distribution channels with the recent GAP certification, so Boulder County consumers can also purchase Fair Farm’s local pasture-raised, organic, GAP-certified eggs.
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This article was originally published by The Shelby Report. The Shelby Report delivers complete supermarket and grocery news and insights to the retail food trade nationwide through distribution of five monthly regional print and digital editions.
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