Why Most Pork in Australia Isn't Paddock-Raised (and Ours Is)
Ask The Farmers — straight answers from Michael & Carolyn Emeny, 4th-generation Mudgee farmers and owner/operators of Mudgee Meat
Only about 5% of Australian sows are genuinely free range — living outdoors for their entire lives — and around 90% of Australia's pigs are housed indoors for every stage of production, according to Australian Pork Limited, the industry's own peak body. Every pig behind Mudgee Meat's pork is different: paddock raised outdoors, start to finish, no exceptions. We're Michael and Carolyn Emeny — 4th-generation farmers from Mudgee in the NSW Central Tablelands, and the founders of Mudgee Meat. We've walked both kinds of pig operations — big indoor sheds and open paddocks — and the difference in how the animals actually live is obvious the moment you step onto the property. By the end of this you'll know exactly what "free range," "outdoor bred" and "paddock raised" mean on a pork label, why most pork doesn't qualify for any outdoor claim at all, and what's genuinely different about ours — answered the way we'd tell a mate over the farm gate.
How Australia's pigs are actually raised
Australian Pork Limited (APL) tracks and publishes the real breakdown of how the national sow herd is housed. It's more lopsided than most shoppers would guess:
- Indoor (around 90% of pigs). Housed indoors for every stage of production — mating, pregnancy, birth, weaning, growing and finishing. This is the standard, efficient system that produces the bulk of Australia's pork, and it's why most fresh pork on supermarket shelves carries no "free range" or "outdoor" claim at all — it doesn't need one to be a legitimate, well-run product.
- "Outdoor Bred, Raised Indoors on Straw" (around 4% of sows). Breeding sows live outdoors with free access to paddocks and bedded shelter their whole adult lives, and piglets are born and raised outdoors until weaning — but are then moved into large indoor barns with deep straw or rice-hull bedding for the rest of their life. This is a genuine, certified category (look for the PorkMark logo) and a step up from full indoor housing, but the pig you're actually eating still spent most of its life in a shed.
- Free range (around 5% of sows). Pigs live outdoors for their entire life — paddocks, wallows, and kennels or huts for shelter, with paddocks rotated through a crop-forage phase to manage the land. Look for the APL Certified Free Range logo.
That's roughly 99% of the national sow herd across those three categories — which means genuinely outdoor pork, in any form, is a small minority of what's produced in Australia. Paddock raised — our term — sits alongside free range as pigs living outdoors their whole lives, born and raised on pasture with shelter, not sheds.
Sow stalls and farrowing crates: what's actually still used
This is where labels get murkier, and it's worth knowing the real terms rather than the marketing versions.
Sow stalls (or gestation stalls) are individual confinement pens roughly the size of the sow herself, that don't allow her to turn around. The Australian pork industry voluntarily committed to phasing these out by 2017 — a genuinely world-leading move — and the current standard is that sows are kept in loose housing (able to move freely, usually in groups) from five days after mating until about a week before giving birth, a period of roughly 105 days.
Farrowing crates are a different thing, and they're still routinely used across the Australian industry, including on many indoor and even some non-free-range outdoor operations. A sow is moved into a crate to give birth and stays there with her litter for about four weeks — it protects piglets from being crushed by their own mother, which industry research hasn't yet found a reliable welfare-equivalent alternative for. It's worth knowing this distinction: a pork product can be marketed as "sow-stall free" and still involve farrowing crates, which is a separate practice entirely.
Every pig in Mudgee Meat's paddock-raised pork lives outdoors for its whole life — no sow stalls, no farrowing crates, no sheds at any stage.
The bacon and ham catch most shoppers miss
Here's a fact worth knowing before your next shop: while all the fresh pork sold in Australia (chops, roasts, steaks, fillets) is required to be Australian-grown, the majority of ham, bacon and smallgoods on supermarket shelves is made using imported pork — often from countries where sow stall use is still legal or only partially restricted. Country-of-origin labelling laws mean this has to be disclosed, but it's easy to miss on a busy shelf. If you want to know how the pig behind your bacon was actually raised, check the label — or buy from a butcher who can tell you directly. Every rasher of our Premium Bacon and every one of our Pork Sausages is made in-house from our own paddock-raised, Australian pork — not imported.
Why we raise pork differently
Our pork is sourced from Australian farmers we work with directly, and every pig is paddock-raised outdoors for its whole life — born on pasture, grown on pasture, with shelter for weather, not sheds for confinement. We hold that standard because it's the way pigs were farmed for generations before large-scale indoor systems became the industry norm, and because it produces pork with a firmer texture and better fat than most indoor-raised pork achieves.
We're not going to tell you indoor pork farming is cruel, or that the 90% of Australian pork raised indoors is somehow illegitimate — it's a well-run, heavily researched system, and the industry's own voluntary sow stall phase-out shows real, ongoing investment in welfare. What we will say plainly: a pig that spends its whole life outdoors on pasture is living differently to one that spends it in a shed, even a well-run one, and that difference shows up on the plate.
What's actually in the box
Our Paddock Raised Pork: Quarter Pack (minimum 10kg, $229) includes forequarter chops, cutlets, loin chops, spare ribs, a pork roast, pork belly, and 500g each of pork mince and pork sausages — a good entry point if you're new to buying pork this way. Step up to the Paddock Raised Pork Side (minimum 20kg, $429) for double that spread — forequarter chops, cutlets, loin chops, spare ribs, three pork roasts, pork belly, 1kg diced pork, 1kg pork mince and 1kg pork sausages. The Full Pork Pack (approximately 40kg, $829) doubles that again — six roasts, pork belly, 2kg each of diced pork, mince and sausages — with the note that exact cuts vary a little pig to pig, same as any real animal.
Prefer to buy by the cut? Our paddock-raised pork is also available individually: Pork Belly, Pork Loin Roast, Pork Loin Fillet, Pork Scotch Fillet, Pork Mince, Pork Sausages and Premium Bacon.
Is paddock-raised pork right for you?
It's right for you if you want pork from pigs that lived outdoors their whole lives, and you're happy to pay a bit more for that than a conventional indoor product costs. It's probably not the deciding factor for you if price per kilo is your main concern — indoor systems are generally cheaper to produce at scale, and that shows up at the checkout.
Still not sure? Ask us. We answer our own emails — it's a family business, and that's rather the point.
FAQ
What percentage of Australian pork is free range? Around 5% of Australian sows are free range, meaning the pigs live outdoors for their entire life, according to Australian Pork Limited. A further ~4% are "Outdoor Bred, Raised Indoors on Straw," where breeding sows and young piglets live outdoors but are moved to indoor barns to finish. The remaining ~90% of pigs are housed indoors for every stage of production.
What does "outdoor bred" mean on a pork label? "Outdoor Bred, Raised Indoors on Straw" is a certified category (look for the PorkMark logo) where breeding sows live outdoors their whole adult life and piglets are born and raised outdoors until weaning — but the piglets are then moved into indoor barns with straw bedding for the rest of their life, until sale.
What does "paddock raised" mean on a pork label? It means the pig was born and raised outdoors on pasture for its entire life, with shelter rather than a shed at any stage — not just bred outdoors, and not moved indoors to finish. It's a stricter standard than "outdoor bred."
Does Australia still use sow stalls? The Australian pork industry voluntarily committed to phasing out sow stalls (individual gestation pens) by 2017. Sows are now kept in loose housing, generally in groups, for most of their pregnancy. Farrowing crates — a separate practice used during birth and the following ~4 weeks — are still routinely used across the industry, including in many non-free-range operations.
Is all bacon and ham in Australia made from Australian pork? No. All fresh Australian pork (chops, roasts, steaks, fillets) is required to be Australian-grown, but the majority of ham, bacon and smallgoods sold in supermarkets is made using imported pork. Country-of-origin labelling laws require this to be disclosed on the pack.
Is Mudgee Meat's pork paddock raised? Yes — every pig is born and raised outdoors on pasture for its whole life, sourced from Australian farmers we work with directly. We don't sell indoor-raised or outdoor-bred pork, and our bacon and sausages are made in-house from our own Australian, paddock-raised pork — never imported.
Michael & Carolyn Emeny are 4th-generation farmers from Mudgee, NSW, and the founders of Mudgee Meat. Their family has farmed the Central Tablelands for over a century. Since 2012 they've delivered grass-fed beef and lamb, paddock-raised pork and bulk packs — butchered in-house and sourced direct from trusted Australian farmers — to families across Australia. Got a question for the farm gate? Ask the Farmers.