NATURE BASED PASTURE RENEWAL SYSTEM

A big thank you to farmer Shaun from Northcliffe for hosting our ‘Nature Based Pasture Renewal’ trial as part of the Dung Beetle Soil Health Initiative.

This trial will focus on the effect of dung beetles on pasture seedling establishment. Pasture seeds are fed to cattle in a contained area over three days.  These seeds then pass through the gut of the cow, and some pop out the other end embed into the poop.   Next up come the amazing dung beetle. Dung beetles shred the cow poop into a beautiful, ideal seed raising mix where the seeds are shielded from intense heat in a perfectly moist environment.  What more could a little seed ask for?  

SFCL will look closely at germination success but are very interested in the persistence of the seedlings following germination at this stage in summer with no regular rainfall following.

 I think by now you all know how passionate SFCL is about the benefits of dung beetles to our soil ecosystem so why not ask them to work a little bit harder and sow our paddocks for us.  The timing is tricky, with dung beetles being most active mid-summer and break of season being weeks away yet.  Just another reason why SFCL is working hard to support existing dung beetle species in our region and hopefully establish new species to fill population seasonal gaps.

Please contact us if you would like to learn how to protect and encourage dung beetle populations on your property, it’s easy with just a few small changes.

#dungbeetle #landcarewa #soilhealth