10-24 FB Dung Beetle

 Got a story that is very down to earth. And I mean that literally. This is a story that can be found on the ground, and even more graphically, smack dab in the middle of a cow patty… otherwise known as a pile of manure. Sorry about the subject, but the story is something every cattleman should know about, particularly in these tough economic conditions. We have a willing workforce that will help eliminate flies for free.

Cattlemen spend a lot of money every year trying to control fly populations, which can cost producers money through reduced cattle performance.  Cattleman Paul Brown has found a friend in the dung beetle in the sense that they can control fly populations and it doesn’t cost him a dime.  Here he is: “To enhance our dung beetle populations we quit using insecticides, fly tags and pour ons  5 years ago and now we have slowly seen an increase in our dung beetle populations and I figure on our ranch, if I were to ranch for 30 years, I would save $85,000 by not using those inputs and letting the dung beetles work for free.