Dung Beetle vs Climate Change

As the industry struggles with the increasing pressure and ramifications agricultural practices have on climate change, one Manjimup farmer is turning to the winter-active exotic dung beetle, Bubas bison, to help implement a carbon positive approach.

Pioneering the use of biochar – which is essentially charcoal – as a means of sequestering carbon, Doug Pow of Marron Brook Farm sidestepped intensive machinery to fertilise inaccessible Alps slopes by developing a strategy using the dung beetle to bury the biochar-infused manure deep within the soil profile.

‘When we first bought this farm, I noticed active dung beetles burying virtually every dung pat down as deep as 600 millimetres into the ground.’, Doug explained.

‘And after attending a biochar talk, explaining the effectiveness of GPS controlled grain farming seeding equipment to put charcoal in to the ground and then using the same GPS seeding equipment to plant the seed of the next grain crop over the char into the ground, they were getting an increase in productivity.’

Doug asked: ‘How could I put that in effect in to a place like Manjimup where we grow horticulture crops, we grow tree crops, where we have big high hills and narrow gates and we can’t pull hundred metre wide equipment up mountain sides. 

‘So I attempted to feed some char to my cattle, let it fall out the other end and hopefully, the beetles would bury the dung of the cow they were burying, while also placing the char into the ground.

‘And the soil has become more fertile, it’s releasing the phosphorous that’s been locked up in the soil, back up to the surface. That has a big advantage.’

Research into the use of biochar as a feed additive has so far indicated it can promote more efficient digestion and reduce methane emissions from ruminant livestock.

The methane gases, a huge climate change contributor, emitted by bacteria aiding bovine digestion, are consumed by methanotrophs within the char.

‘Methanotrophs can live in the cow’s gut in the pore space of the biochar and they live on the methane, reducing harmful emissions.’ Doug added.

This innovative carbon sequestration practice, resulting in healthy cattle, improved soil nutrient levels and pasture growth, has lead to a short-term State NRM funded trial at Bannister Downs Dairy.

And the trial confirmed biochar could be fed to cows in stalls with additional benefits including a marked reduction in odour in the dairy.

Doug won the Australian Government Innovation in Agriculture Award at the 2019 WA Landcare Awards.