PUBLISHED BY MANITOBA BEEF PRODUCERS
AUGUST 2023
CE 1998 SIN
It was a full house on July 11 for the MBP Producer Knowledge & Outreach Session as technician Jamie Jensen lead a hands-on ultrasound demonstration and discussion. Results of the demo will be available in an upcoming edition of Cattle Country. (Photo credit: Mary Paziuk)
A Cow Patty is More Than Just Dung When you see a cow patty in a field, it’s more than just dung; it’s actually home to a community of organisms that are interacting to help break the dung down and return nutrients back to the soil to promote the growth of new forage. Now producers can learn more about these insect communities thanks to a new guide compiled by Dr. Kevin Floate, an Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) scientist who has spent the past 30 years researching this unique community of insect species. Cow patty critters: An introduction to the ecology, biology and identification of insects in cattle dung on Canadian pastures is the first comprehensive but easyto-read guide to dung insects in Canada. It contains more than 200 images and is a resource that cattle producers can use to understand the diversity of insects and the variety of activities they carry out in dung. The guide includes tools and instructions for
Sign up for
e-Statemr etonts and ente
WIN !
1 of 3
e-Bikes
who avoid grazing it, further reducing the grazing area in the pasture. Valuable allies Arguably one of the most valuable services these beneficial insects in dung provide is in helping to reduce populations of pests such as face flies, stable flies, and horn flies. “These three pest species all breed in cattle dung, but by virtue of the beneficial insects that are working collectively to break that cow patty down and scatter it, it reduces the suitability of the patty as a breeding site for the pest flies,” Floate says. “We have a free army of labour helping us reduce populations of pest flies.” For ranchers, land managers, naturalists or conservationists dung insects are valuable allies. They provide ecosystem services such as pollinating plants and being a food resource for small mammals, birds and bats, and besides returning nutrients to the soil, these insects can aerate soil, improve water drainage and disperse the seeds of native plants. page 8
Sign up for e-Statements through online banking. The deadline to enter is August 31, 2023. Must be a Sunrise Credit Union member to enter. Free membership until October 19, 2023! Winners will be contacted on September 1, 2023. e-Bikes valued at $3,000, provided by Stream ‘n’ Wood. Visit sunrisecu.mb.ca for more information.
www.mbbeef.ca
POSTMASTER : PLEASE R ETURN UNDELIVERABLE C OPIES TO: MBP, UNIT 220, 530 CENTURY STREET, WINNIPE G, MB R3H 0Y4 CANADIAN PUBLIC ATIONS MAIL PRODUCT SALES AGREEMEN T NUMBE R 40005187 POSTAGE PAID IN WINNIPE G.
BY: ANGELA LOVELL
producers about how to identify dung insects such as flies, beetles, wasps and mites and describes the biology for different members of these four groups in plain language. Ultimately, Dr. Floate’s hope is that having this reference freely available to the public will spur further research and interest from farmers, ranchers and students on this important and practical topic. Although specific to Canada, the guide can be used throughout North America and in Europe, where many of the dung insects now in North America originated. Should we care about these dung insects? Yes, you should, says Floate, because undegraded dung has a cost associated with it. “The most direct cost is that it’s reducing the amount of grazing surface available in the pasture. So, if dung didn’t break down at all that surface area is lost from future production,” he says. Nutrients leaching out of a fresh cow pie also overfertilize the immediate area around it producing a green halo effect. That enriched forage is unpalatable for cattle