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A $5 million poultry farm proposed for the outskirts of Goornong would be a major win for the local, regional and state economies and is crucial for ensuring the biosecurity of Australia’s chicken layer industry, says the company behind the development.
Specialised Breeders Australia said the proposed 6.5-hectare ‘Karee Farm’ would consist of six production sheds which would either rear or house up to 100,000 egg-laying chickens at a time.
CEO Richard Rayner said there would be minimal noise from ventilation fans, dust from traffic and the odour from the Karee Farm proposal. The nearest dwelling to the the farm is more than one kilometre away.
Mr Rayner said he expected a smooth approval process for the Karee Farm proposal, which is currently before the City of Greater Bendigo planning department.
“It’s compliant with all the planning requirements, it’s rural, in the middle of nowhere, and there’s very little associated traffic,” he said.
“We’d like to have it operational as soon as possible – as soon as we have planning approval, we’ll commence plans to build, which will probably have a four- to five-month build time.”
The Huntly-based company, previously known as Hy-Line Australia, describes itself as “the largest supplier of day-old chicks and point-of-lay pullets to the Australian poultry industry”.
“We produce the chickens which end up producing table eggs,” Mr Rayner said.
“We supply close to 70 per cent of the market in Australia with day-old chicks.
“We’re one of only two breeding operations in the country which hold the genetic stock supply for the chicken layer industry – so we’re a niche market.”
Mr Rayner said the Goornong farm would sure-up biosecurity for the company by providing separation from existing farms.
“This is a major project for us and our ability to set up this farm will be critical to the future of the industry in Australia – we have to maintain biosecurity.
“If the farm doesn’t go ahead, it could have ramifications for the whole industry.
“This is almost like a quarantine farm – that’s the level of isolation which we will be looking to ensure it has.”
The 115-hectare property on which the farm would be built is on Grahams Road, Avonmore, about eight kilometres from Goornong.
The proposed site is setback 340 metres from Grahams Road and 1.1km from Goornong-Mayreef Road and sits 400m from the Bendigo Creek.
Once constructed, the farm would employ two full-time workers on shift work to keep the operation going seven days a week.
The six sheds would be 130m long, 14m wide and 2.8m high with a 4.2m pitch roof.
SBA said the sheds would either be used for rearing production farming or egg production farming – “subject to the needs of the company and biosecurity protocols”.
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