Episode 393: Dung Beetles – Your Next Livestock Species?
Provided by:
About Voices from the Field
From cover crops to regenerative grazing and organic production to marketing, ATTRA - Voices from the Field is your sustainable agriculture podcast. Voices from the Field is produced by NCAT. Since 1976, NCAT has provided trusted information, individualized technical assistance, and in-depth resources to support sustainable agriculture and accessible energy solutions.
Related Resources
In this episode of ATTRA’s Voices from the Field, NCAT Agriculture Specialist Nina Prater talks with Sneha Haridas, a 4th year PhD candidate and Graduate Research Assistant at West Virginia University about her research on dung beetles.
Dung beetles are important for nutrient cycling and improving soil, pasture, and livestock health, but in some regions their populations have declined. Sneha has been researching ways to help livestock producers in West Virginia figure out how to increase the numbers and diversity of dung beetles on their farms – including looking at the best ways to make a dung beetle nursery.
*Correction on a fact stated in the episode: Northeast India is part of two* world biodiversity hotspots, not three, as Sneha accidentally stated.
Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.
Additional Resources:
Recent research on the toxicity of different livestock treatments on dung beetles in West Virginia: https://academic.oup.com/ee/article/54/4/865/8198110?guestAccessKey=
Contact Sneha Haridas with questions: sh00087@mix.wvu.edu