Case Study: Dung Beetles with Bruce Thompson

There are so many good example of best practice amongst the nominations that come in to our awards. We want to highlight some of these stories as a case study. First up - the importance of the Dung Beetle! Bruce Thompson is a conventional dairy farmer near to Portlaoise. He is passionate about increasing dung beetles on his farm as that he feels will increase other forms of nature. Here is his story about his research:
Much is talked about the benefits animal agriculture bring to ecology, but have you ever wondered what happens grazed herbage after the animal passes it through their digestive system and puts it out on to pasture? Well grab a “stool” and Ill try explain. These deposits become a micro-habitat for a whole diverse range of small creatures but, for me, the king of these is the indominable dung beetle. Lets give him a ‘Pat’ on the back. We have approx 60 species of these beetles in Ireland. These beetles move in to these master-pieces of architecture soon after it has been expelled from the animal. They drink the lovely nutrient-rich juices from the pat dehydrating parasite and fly eggs rendering them immobile. As the pats dry out, they become appealing to earthworms who complete the cycle by digesting these stores of nutrients and mixing them with the topsoil. We also have a number of beetle species who burrow in to the soil, to lay their eggs, bringing the pat down along with them and placing it at the roots of herbage where all kinds of parasites, flies and animal pathogens wont come in contact with their intended hosts. This burrowing effect not only aerates the soil and plant roots, but also reduces the risk of nutrient run off polluting our waterways. However, It’s not all good news Im afraid. Modern farming techniques have depleted a lot of our beetle populations. Practices such as grassland tillage, wet dung pats derived from modern grass management, removing animals from fields in autumn and leaving no food for the beetles until Spring have all attributed to this situation. However the biggest factor of all is the use of anthelmintics to “control” parasites in animals, these animal remedies are toxic to beetles with plenty of scientific papers written to confirm this. Some species really are “Up the Creek”. Addressing these issues is what the aim has been on our farm. An integrated parasite management plan has to be part of animal management and with resistance to these drugs becoming more common, we need to keep these medicines for the most susceptible stock and used only when we can demonstrate a need. The real tragedy of losing beetles (and other dung derived insects) is their loss as a food source for the wider animal kindgdom. These beetles are a food source for birds, bats, foxes and badgers. The smaller of these creatures being prey for other creatures. We can turn this story around though, more animals (farmed responsibly) mean more dung pats, more dung pats means more beetles, more beetles means more food available for predators.
For more information on farming and dung beetles please go to this recently launched website: www.dungbeetlesforfarmers.co.uk

[@welshboys3033]

Have you ever considered chain harrowing some of the fields to break down the cow pat's after finishing grazing the fields so the nutrients get taken up by the grasses quicker.

[@AndrewBrown-pn1do]

Where did you get the dung beetle enclosures?