Dung beetle watched with interest

"The release today has the possibility to assist with future environmental aspects of animal dung disposal," says Bruce Wills, Federated Farmers national president.

"Dung beetles have long been paired with livestock overseas to process their dung, but New Zealand, to date, has not had the right species to be able to withstand open fields. We are looking forward to the Onthophagus taurus and Onthophagus binodus species making their debut.

"It is estimated that animal dung covers 700,000ha of pastoral land in New Zealand. Dung beetles will process that dung for food and reproduction, eventually breaking it down into a sawdust-like material. Without them it can take up to a month for the dung to break down.

"The process not only gets rid of the dung, it also improves soil health and pasture productivity, reduces water and nutrient runoff, and has been shown to reduce parasitic infection in livestock.

"There is also the potential to reduce the reliance on drenching stock in the longer term as dung beetle populations grow.

"Federated Farmers is supportive of the Dung Beetle Release Strategy Group's (DBRSG) plan to release more dung beetles onto farms in other parts of the country and the environmental an economic benefits that they bring," says Wills.

The 500 Dung Beetles are being released on an organic dairy farm near Gore today. (Thursday 26 September).

The release is the first one for the Dung Beetle Release Strategy Group (DBRSG), which has plans for more releases onto farms in other parts of the country.

Environment Southland was one of only a few regional councils to invest in the DBRSG project from the outset. Environment Southland biosecurity manager Richard Bowman says Environment Southland already had a lot of experience with the biological control of weeds so it was a logical step to use a biological method to help improve soil and water quality. "While this is new, the principle is well established," he says.

The DBRSG gained permission to import and release the 11 species of beetles from the Environmental Risk Management Authority (now EPA) in February 2011. The beetles were initially held in containment at Landcare Research where they underwent a comprehensive approval process, which included disease clearance by the Ministry for Primary Industries. Since then they have been mass reared at both Landcare Researches campuses in Lincoln and Tamaki. Some caged field trials have also been undertaken and a technical advisory group oversaw additional research, which also supported the introduction of the dung beetles.

DBRSG project manager Andrew Barber says the release will mark the end of a long process to get the beetles introduced. It is an extremely exciting step in improving New Zealand's agricultural performance.

"I truly believe that dung beetles have the potential to transform New Zealand's pastoral-based agricultural system. More production at a lower environmental cost, it is a terrific story. I foresee a time when our grandchildren will not believe that paddocks were once covered with dung."

Representatives from the DBRSG, Landcare Research and Environment Southland will release two species of dung beetle onto the Southland farm: Onthophagus taurus and Onthophagus binodus.