Tuesday, 08 December 2015 10:34

Dung beetles up for auction

Written by 
The winner of the auction with a $1 reserve will receive a Farm Starter Pack normally worth $2000 plus GST. The winner of the auction with a $1 reserve will receive a Farm Starter Pack normally worth $2000 plus GST.

A colony of much sought-after dung beetles are up for auction to raise awareness and kick off a science education project.

Dung Beetle Innovations (DBI) is auctioning the colony of dung beetles on Trade Me. The winner of the auction with a $1 reserve will receive a Farm Starter Pack normally worth $2000 plus GST.

They will receive their own colony of between 200 and 500 beetles which eat and bury cow dung. They are only attracted to the cow dung so move from one patch to another to consume it.

DBI has teamed up with Chris Clay, who won Microsoft's Global Innovative Educator in 2011, to use dung beetles to switch young minds onto the wonders of science. All the money raised in the auction will be used to engage kids and communities in the issues around agriculture and the environment.

DBI has assured its customers who have already ordered beetles that their orders will be filled first.

More like this

NZ's handbrake

OPINION: Your old mate gets the sinking feeling that no matter who we vote into power in the hope they will reverse the terminal slide the country is in, there will always be a cohort of naysayers determined to hold us back.

NZEI unhappy with funding cut for teachers

Education union NZEI Te Riu Roa says that while educators will support the Government’s investment in learning support, they’re likely to be disappointed that it has been paid for by defunding expert teachers.

Featured

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter