April 23, 2013

Australians are expected to consume more than 44 kilogrammes of chicken each this year, a huge increase on the five kilogrammes per person in the 1960s.

Chicken producers say finding land and getting approval for intensive farming are big barriers to them keeping up with growing demand for the meat. Chicken has been the most consumed meat in Australia for five years in a row. But while Australians are eating more chicken, it seems they do not want the birds raised next door.

Andreas Dubs, from the Chicken Meat Federation, said every year new sheds and farms are opened up. But he said farms need to be close to processing plants, which are traditionally close to cities, and that raises problems with communities.

"That's where the question of noise and smell and so on and the environment comes into it," he said. "If the buffer zone is made very large, then it becomes a very difficult endeavour to actually find that land and to be able to afford it."

Dubs said zoning of land near urban centres and gaining council approval can also be difficult. However, he sees a strong future because poultry converts feed to meat very efficiently.

"We use two kilogrammes of feed for one kilogramme of live weight of chicken," he said. "I think with the pressures on sustainability, on environment, on land, I think chicken meat is bound to grow and maintain its position."