Farmers embrace poop-eating beetles

Dung beetles are fast becoming a farmer’s best friend as they help manage fertiliser costs and reduce summer flies in the Geographe Bay Catchment.

GeoCatch project officer Jenelle Schult is working with local farmers to promote the benefits of dung beetles.

“Dung beetles not only dispose of cow pads and control the fly nuisance, they also improve soil fertility by burrowing nutrients deep into the soil,” she said.

“This reduces the chance of cow poo running off into local waterways and reduces the need for fertiliser.”

Widely recognised as ecosystem engineers, dung beetles played an important role in sustainable farming since they were introduced to Australia in 1967.

Dairy farmer Elaine Haddon set up dung beetle traps on her Yoongarillup property to monitor active species as part of the Dung Beetle Ecosystem Engineers project.

The project analysed the performance of dung beetles for livestock producers.

Geocatch has organised a community dung beetle webinar for July 30 at 12pm to find out the benefits of these hard-working insects. Visit geocatch.asn.au to register.