"Pasture raised" and "free range" on meat or poultry are living or raising conditions claims, and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service approves the label before it's used, with records behind it. FSIS's August 2024 guideline says what each needs. Free range poultry need continuous, free access to the outside throughout their normal growing cycle; birds kept in housing for a whole growing cycle because of weather aren't free range. Pasture raised, pasture fed, pasture grown and meadow raised should be backed by records showing the majority of each animal's life was spent on pasture, land mostly rooted in grass or other plants. On poultry, these words need no extra explanation on the label. On beef, pork and other livestock, they do: the label has to say who set the standard and what it means, like "Sunday Creek Farm defines pasture raised as…", or point to a website with the standard, and convey that the animals were never confined to a feedlot. The records FSIS asks for: how the raising is controlled from birth, a signed, dated description of how the animals are raised, how product is traced and kept apart, and what happens to animals that don't qualify. FSIS strongly encourages third-party certification for these claims. In the example below, an Ohio farm checks which of four flocks can carry the claims. Below are the rules, the records, the example, and a free flock log.
The short version
- Pasture raised and free range are raising claims FSIS approves before use.
- Free range poultry: continuous, free access outside through the normal growing cycle.
- Pasture raised: records showing the majority of each animal's life on pasture.
- Poultry labels need no extra explanation of these words.
- Livestock labels say who defined the claim and what it means, or give the website.
- The records: controls, a signed description of raising, tracing, non-conforming animals.
- FSIS strongly encourages third-party certification for these claims.
- TaroStack keeps each flock's processing as its own lot, so claimed and unclaimed birds stay apart. More below.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| Approval | Labels with special statements and claims submitted to FSIS and approved before use (9 CFR 412.1) |
| Claims covered | Pasture Raised, Pasture Fed, Pasture Grown, Meadow Raised, Cage or Crate Free, Not Confined, Free Range, Free Roaming (FSIS guideline, August 2024) |
| Livestock labels | Who established the standard and what the claim means, or the website where it's posted; never confined to a feedlot (FSIS guideline) |
| Poultry labels | No extra explanation needed for Free Range, Free Roaming, Pasture Fed, Pasture Grown, Pasture Raised or Meadow Raised; the records still are (FSIS guideline) |
| Free Range, poultry | Housing described; continuous, free access outside throughout the normal growing cycle (FSIS guideline) |
| Free Range, meat | Continuous, free access to the outdoors through the whole grazing season (FSIS guideline) |
| Pasture Raised | The majority of each animal's life on pasture; pasture means land mostly rooted in grass or other plants (FSIS guideline) |
| Certified claims | The certifier's name, website and logo on the label, tied to the claim by an asterisk or symbol (FSIS guideline) |
Grass fed, a diet claim, is in grass fed label requirements, and inspection in USDA meat inspection requirements. This is general information, not legal advice.
The records
| Record | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Controls | How the animals are kept to the claim from birth, or for the period the claim covers |
| Raising statement | A signed, dated description of how the animals are raised |
| Tracing | How product is traced and kept apart from slaughter through packing and sale |
| Non-conforming animals | How animals or product that don't qualify are identified and kept apart |
| Certification | A current certificate, if a third party certifies the claim |
An example: an Ohio pastured poultry farm
Sunday Creek Pastured Poultry, a made-up pastured chicken farm near Nelsonville, Ohio, I use in these examples, has its birds processed at a USDA-inspected plant and wants "Pasture Raised" and "Free Range" on its labels. Chicks brood indoors for three weeks, then move to pasture in mobile shelters:
| Flock | Birds | Days of life | Days on pasture | Share on pasture | Outside access on pasture | Pasture Raised | Free Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F-2604, spring | 400 | 56 | 35 | 63% | Continuous | Supported | Supported |
| F-2606, summer | 400 | 56 | 33 | 59% | Continuous, 2 days in for storms | Supported | Supported |
| F-2609, fall | 300 | 56 | 31 | 55% | Continuous, 4 days in for weather | Supported | Supported |
| F-2612, winter | 200 | 63 | 11 | 18% | Mostly housed | Not supported | Not supported |
The three warm-season flocks spend most of their lives on pasture with the shelters open. The winter flock brooded six weeks in the cold and was shut in for ten of its 21 days on pasture, so it's processed as its own lot and sold as plain chicken. The plant submits the label with the farm's controls, the signed raising statement and the tracing description; the farm is weighing a third-party certification, which FSIS encourages. How a small farm prices its birds is in chicken business plan.
Get the log
Download the pastured poultry flock log. One sheet: each flock's birds, hatch date, move to pasture, processing date, whether the birds had continuous outdoor access and the days kept in for weather; the days of life, days on pasture, the share on pasture, and whether the records support Pasture Raised and Free Range fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The log sorts the flocks. In the freezer, birds from several processings sit side by side, some with the claim and some without, and the right label has to stay on the right bird all the way to the customer.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each processing as its own lot, so claimed and unclaimed birds don't mix.
Each processing a lot. Birds back from the plant are received as their own lot, with the plant's lot and date, so the winter flock's birds are a different lot from the pasture raised ones.
Stock by lot. Whole birds and parts are counted by lot, on a phone in the freezer, and the oldest goes out first.
Where it went. Each order, to a restaurant or a store, records the lots it got, so if a lot has to come back, one recall report shows who got it and what's still in your freezer.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which birds carry the claim | Labels on bags | Their own lot |
| Pasture raised birds left | Count the freezer | Stock by lot |
| Oldest birds out first | Read the bags | Lots, oldest first |
| Which customers got a lot | Invoices | One recall report |
Receiving, lots, counts and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.