The $33m fix right under our feet

• Published date: 20 January 2023
• Publication title: Horowhenua Chronicle

Most of it sits repugnant on the surface for months, lowering productivity as grazing livestock avoid it

Imagine, then, that it could be a sustainable goldmine of fertiliser and carbon if buried rapidly.

Dung Beetle Innovations was launched in 2016 by co-founders Dr Shaun Forgie and Andrew Barber. They are dedicated to rebalancing New Zealand’s pastoral farming systems, and improving water quality and soil health — through the establishment of dung beetles as a sustainable farm management practice.

Dung beetles. the pair say, are suitable for all livestock types and all farming practices including conventional farms that use drenches, organic farms, and biodynamic farms.

“Most of the varieties of dung beetle we mass-rear in our facilities, located in Auckland, are suitable for the Waikato and King Country. A couple of species are suited for low-rainfall pastoral locations that rely on irrigators,” Forgie says.

These critters are fast workers — scientists have observed about 4000 dung beetles converge on a fresh pile of elephant scat within 15 minutes. They work hard too; one dung beetle can bury 250 times its own weight in one night.

Research conducted abroad and locally indicates that introducing dung beetles is a practical, sustainable and cost-effective way to alleviate farm waste problems.

Forgie says dung beetles offer a remarkable natural solution to revitalise our pastures and can help rehabilitate waterways. The nicknamed “Underground Army” is so effective because the beetles’ tunnelling reduces soil compaction and increases aeration.

Dung burial leads to increased grass root growth, then to better retention of dung and urine in the soil. This “virtuous cycle” reduces sediment and microbial contamination in run-off, reduces leaching, improves production, and ultimately protects the quality of our waterways.

“There are huge economic benefits to the farmer and to the country. The farmer gets at least a 30 per cent increase in above-ground biomass, and nutrient content, reduced forage fouling, less-costly pasture management, and higher productivity. And using all that sustainable manure supply is a nutrient gold mine for free if it is buried. This will cut the farmer’s costs on expensive, unsustainable solid fertiliser inputs,” Forgie says.

By rapidly burying fresh dung, the beetles reduce the spread of disease by limiting the ability of organisms to survive in the dung.

“We recently published studies in an international peer-reviewed journal showing...