Green Wedge

IN THE POO

A Western Australian farmer is using dung beetles to address climate change.

Based at Marron Brook Farm in Manjimup, 300km south of Perth, farmer Doug Pow is pioneering the use of biochar as a way of sequestering carbon.

Instead of relying on intensive machinery, Pow is turning to the winter-active exotic dung beetle, Bubas bison, to fertilise previously inaccessible hill slopes.

Doug Pow (left) received an Innovation in Land Management Award from WA Landcare chair Keith Bradby. He has developed a strategy that encourages the dung beetle to bury 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 600mm into the ground,” Pow says.

He also attended a talk on biochar, which explained the effectiveness of using GPS-controlled grain-farmingseeding equipment to put charcoal into the ground – and then using the same equipment to plant the seed of the next grain crop over the char. According to the presentation, this increased productivity.

Pow began wondering how he could put the system into effect in 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 100m-wide equipment up mountainsides.”

He attempted to feed some char to his cattle in the hope that when it fell out the other end the beetles Dung good – the Bubas bison dung beetle.

would bury the dung while also placing the char into the ground.

The experiment worked.

“The soil has become more fertile,” says Pow. “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 indicates it can promote more efficient digestion in ruminant livestock, and reduce the methane they produce. So as well as sequestering carbon, it is lowering emissions. Another benefit is a marked reduction in odour.

Pow will represent WA while competing for the Australian Government Innovation in Agriculture Land Management Award at the National Landcare Awards later this year.. ■

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