Dung beetles may be small, but their impact is big!
These underground powerhouses are quietly transforming paddocks across the Geographe Catchment, improving soil health, reducing bush fly populations, and enhancing pasture productivity.
GeoCatch’s upcoming event, Discovering Dung Beetles, invites farmers and community members to take a closer look at the vital role these insects play in sustainable farming systems.
Held on-farm, the paddock walk will offer a hands-on opportunity to see how dung beetles improve soil structure, increase water infiltration, all while helping to control bush flies and parasites.
This paddock walk event is part of GeoCatch’s broader initiative to monitor dung beetle activity across the catchment, in collaboration with the Southern Forests Community Landcare and Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
The project focuses on monitoring dung beetle activity across the catchment, with the goal of identifying which species are currently present and which are most effective for local conditions.
A key aim is to understand how dung beetles can help reduce fly populations in high-traffic tourist areas, supporting both agricultural productivity and regional tourism.
The field walk will take place on Thursday 9 October from 9am to 11am at one of GeoCatch’s Dung Beetle Monitoring Sites in Marybrook. For more information or to register for the event, visit events.humanitix.com/discovering-dung-beetles-walkshop.
Dung Beetle Soil Health Initiative: A collaborative effort to enhance dung beetle value to livestock producers.
Photo above: Yoongarillup farmer Scott Hamilton setting up the dung beetle monitoring equipment. These stations are monitored regularly with species diversity and abundance recorded.
