Pasture-raised chicken brand Pasturebird is celebrating its successful petition alongside parent company Perdue Farms to update the US Department of Agriculture definition of “pasture-raised” meat and poultry, distinguishing “free range” from “pasture-raised” chicken.

In late 2024, the USDA updated animal-raising labeling guidelines to require that “pasture-raised” animals must be on pasture the majority of their life, where “pasture” is defined as land having rooted vegetative cover, grasses or plants. This is different from “free-range,” which requires that the animals have access to the outdoors.

“For more than seven years we’ve been advocating for distinguishable standards between ‘pasture-raised’ and ‘free-range’,” said Paul Greive, Pasturebird founder and vice president of sales and marketing. “The evolution of these important standards ensures that products with these raising practices will be accurately labeled—especially as consumer interest in pasture-raised chicken is on the rise. This is a victory for animal welfare, pastured poultry farmers and consumers.”

In 2020, Perdue Farms acquired Pasturebird with the goal of scaling regenerative agriculture and making pasture-raised chicken more accessible and affordable for consumers. On March 16, 2023, Perdue filed a petition with the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service  to define separate “free-range” and “pasture-raised” claims for meat and poultry products and update its guidance related to living/raising condition claims to align with consumer understanding and expectations. On Aug. 28, 2024, the USDA accepted Perdue’s petition. With the completion of the 60-day comment period on Nov. 12, 2024, the new USDA guideline revisions took immediate effect, but Pasturebird finds there is currently a lag in the marketplace.

“The formal definition for ‘pasture raised’ is going to be a game changer,” said Joe Koopsen, first generation founder/owner at Joe’s Farm in Michigan. “Even though this change will for sure help pastured poultry producers, the real winner is the consumer who has been lied to for too long by companies saying one thing and doing another.”

During the public comment period, nearly 6,500 comments were received online. Eighty percent of these responses were from consumers, with 96% in support of a standard definition of “pasture-raised.”

Farmers and sustainability advocates, third-party auditing agencies such as Certified Humane, and Global Animal Partnership have updated their definition of “pasture-raised” poultry to reflect the new FSIS guidelines. 

“Certified Humane has incorporated the new FSIS guidelines into our Broiler Standards. This will give producers the opportunity to follow these new regulations in tandem with the Certified Humane standard and thus have the USDA’s support for the use of our logo with the addition of a Pasture Raised claim on pack,” said Mimi Stein, executive director for Certified Humane. “We are aligned with this important update and look forward to supporting consumers through the confidence they have in products with our logo.”

Source: Pasturebird