A Week of Beneficial Bugs - Part 1

With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.

What’s your dung beetle knowledge? Whether beginner or novice, this week I’m dedicating to a beneficial bug that has suddenly piqued my interest. Hopefully we can all learn something.

Found on every continent except Antarctica, the dung beetle is known as the mighty recycler! By burying animal dung, these beetles loosen and nourish the soil and help control fly populations. By breaking up the animal dung that they bury, they’re also taking it off the soil and allowing for grass growth in its absence.

I recently had a chance to dive deep into the creatures with Hayes Goosey, Montana State University…

“It goes back to the old saying, ‘one person’s trash is another person’s treasure,’ and that’s certainly true with insects. What ends up coming out the back end of livestock is certainly trash to some but it’s treasure to others. That pat’s a very rich environment filled with a lot of nutrients and a lot of the cell solubles and a lot of the microbial proteins that are passed out. It’s a great place for critters to make a living.”

As I said – it’s a topic I’ve gotten strangely attached to. Keep tuning in this week as we take the trek into how the dung beetle “makes a living” in that pat, why it matters to the cattle industry, and how we can identify a good beetle population right here in your Southeast Regional Ag News.