Scale of 'Nitrate Time Bomb' Revealed... So Feeding Black Soldier Fly Larvae Manure and Then Using Them as Feed for Livestock - A Real Possibility for Dampening the Impact of Manure on the Environment?

The concept of raising BSF on animal manure to feed to livestock, poultry, aquaculture, and possibly reptiles is not new. Researchers have been exploring this topic for a number of decades. However, given the concerns about potential pathogen movement within such a closed system has (and of course pass incidents happening- see Mad Cow Disease as an example), regulations in many countries prevent such methods from being employed.

But, given the great potential with which BSF can be used to recycle such nutrients- maybe researchers, and the powers that be, need to circle back around and reconsider this technique as an option for dealing with the massive issues of nutrient pollution associated manure produced in confined animal facilities.  

Check out this recent article by BBC-

Scale of 'nitrate timebomb' revealed

A recent publication in Animal Nutrition recently tackled the topic but from a different angle. The researchers used horse manure as a means to produce BSF and then feed the resulting larvae back to poultry. I have to admit- I think this might be the first study to raise BSF on horse manure. Something I consider pretty novel and given the number of horses in Texas, USA (my home state), I could see this developing into an interesting market. They found that chickens fed a diet containing BSF were significantly greater in terms of final weights (supported by the Hale study I discussed in a previous post).

If you get a chance- check it out....at minimum, this paper demonstrates the great range of BSF for recycling wastes to produce protein which can then be used as feed.

Moula, N., M.-L. Scippo, C. Douny, G. Degand, E. Dawans, J.-F. Cabaraux, J.-L. Hornick, R. C. Megido, P. Leroy, F. Francis, and J. Detilleux. 2017. Performances of local poultry breed fed black soldier fly larvae reared on horse manure. Animal Nutrition.

​As always- best of luck and happy BSF farming!

Author

Jeff Tomberlin, PhD, BSF fan
Twitter: @FliesFacility
Director, EVO Conversion Systems