Dung beetles provide millions in benefits to WA farms and could stop the need to drench livestock

Below the surface of WA’s livestock country are swarms of small brown beetles quietly working away, “engineering” ecosystems on which the industry relies. From improving soil and pasture health and reducing nutrient run-off into waterways, to preventing flystrike, the benefits of dung beetles to agriculture are estimated to be worth millions of dollars. A national multi-agency team of researchers is trying to harness their power to boost the productivity and profitability of Australia’s $70 billion livestock industry. The $23 million Dung Beetle Ecosystem Engineers project — led by Meat and Livestock Australia and Charles Sturt University, and funded by the Federal Government’s Rural Research and Development for Profit program — aims to fill seasonal and geographic gaps in their distribution across the south of Australia. It has involved the importation of three new dung beetle species to fill the spring gap in activity in southern Australia. The University of Western Australia, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, CSIRO, the Warren and Leschenault Catchments Councils and the Mingenew-Irwin Group are among those involved. CSIRO scientist Dr Valerie Caron called the importation of the beetles a “huge achievement”. “It is even more remarkable to have achieved this during a pandemic which affected the three countries (Morocco, France and Australia) where the work is undertaken,” she said. “The importation process is complex and requires careful planning and timing. “The pandemic made this extremely difficult, but we succeeded despite some delays.” It follows the successful establishment of 23 species introduced to Australia over 30 years between the 1960s and 1990s from southern Africa and southern Europe in a bid to reduce fly populations by the CSIRO. Since the DBEE began in 2018, 120 farmers have taken part, giving up their time to monitor beetle numbers and species on their properties in the hopes of building a national database for farmers and scientists to use. Several nurseries have been running on 19 WA farms — including in Manjimup and Waroona — to “intensively rear” them and build up numbers for release. Among the WA farmers from the South West, Great Southern and Mid West taking part are Donnybrook beef farmers Bernie and Wendy Kurz, who opened their farm for a field day in October. Each week for the past two years they have monitored and emptied traps at three locations on their property, with all the information contributing to the national database. It was through Warren Catchments Council sustainable agriculture programs manager Kathy Dawson that they got involved. The Manjimup local has long been championing the importance of the dung-loving bugs. She has spent the past four years co-ordinating DBEE activities in the South West, monitoring beetle presence and abundance, breeding them, and undertaking information and extension services. By importing the right dung beetle into WA, she be-lieves it could be a “game changer” for primary producers. It could remove the need to drench, she said, saving farmers money, labour and chemical usage. “But it’s getting that functioning population — that’s what we’re striving to achieve.” While burying dung inhibits flies breeding, it also increases the amount of pasture that can be grazed, with cows leaving up to 12 dung pats a day. Studies have shown it can increase pasture growth by 27 per cent over two years. This burying and tunnelling action also improves the flow of water, nutrients and carbon into the root zone. However, one of the challenges is many are susceptible to modern drenches, so anyone using them would be inadvertently killing their dung beetle population. “It’s a chicken and egg thing,” Mrs Dawson said. “Because while sheep are susceptible to parasites and there is a need to drench, then you’re going to be impacting on your dung beetle population. “There are drenches so people need to look out for active ingredients that are not harmful or less harmful on dung beetles — drenches that are excreted in the urine, for example, aren’t going to have an impact on dung beetles. It’s just that some of those drenches are the old-fashioned way that are more labour-intensive.” The CSIRO will continue importing two of the three species, as well as secure funding to import other species identified as potential fits for Australian livestock production areas based on the knowledge gleaned from the project. “There are still many seasonal and geographical gaps in dung beetle activity in Australia,” Dr Caron said. “We have identified five major gaps that would have many benefits if they were filled. We have identified 14 potential species that could fill those gaps.” While there is promise, Mrs Dawson said they were yet to find the right species to suit WA environments and were partnering with CSU to trial a species which had successfully become established through the DBEE over east. As the project nears its end, Mrs Dawson is calling on the Federal Government to continue funding the cause. “This should be an ongoing program,” she said. “There are countries that we haven’t looked at (importing from). “The program has been stop-start, stop-start and now we’re going to have beetles in the early stages of mass production and there’s no ongoing assurance that there’ll be support to breed these up to sufficient numbers to release on farm,” she said. “At the moment we’re working on an expression of interest to put out to groups who might have the capacity to take on the breeding of beetles that will be the legacy of the project.”