But this is no garbage dump. It’s a farm.

Enterra Feed, one of an emerging crop of insect growers, will process the bugs into protein-rich food for fish, poultry — even pets. After being fattened up, the fly larvae will be roasted, dried and bagged or pressed to extract oils, then milled into a brown powder that smells like roasted peanuts.

The small but growing insect-farming sector has captured attention and investments from some heavyweights in the US$400-billion-a-year animal feed business, including U.S. agricultural powerhouse Cargill, feed supplier and farm products and services company Wilbur-Ellis and Swiss-based Buhler Group, which makes crop processing machinery.

Fast-food giant McDonald’s is studying using insects for chicken feed to reduce reliance on soy protein.

“This pioneering work is currently at the proof-of-concept stage,” Nicola Robinson, McDonald’s Corp. sustainable supply chain manager, told Reuters. “We are encouraged by initial results and are committed to continuing to support further research.”

The fact that such global food production giants are turning to insects illustrates the lengths they will go to find alternative sources of protein that are profitable and sustainable as animal feed or additives to human food. Bugs are just one of many alternatives being studied or developed by major agricultural firms. Others include peas, canola, algae and bacterial proteins.

Global population growth and an expanding middle class have raised per capita meat consumption by 50 per cent over the past four decades, fuelling fears of a protein pinch. Traditional sources of the key macronutrient are growing increasingly unreliable amid a changing global climate and worries about the environmental impacts of row-crop farms and commercial fishing.

Benoit Anquetil — strategy and technology lead for Cargill’s animal nutrition business — called developing new sources of protein a “long-term opportunity.”

“Sustainable protein is a key challenge, which is why Cargill is evaluating the viability of insects as part of the solution to nourish the world,” Anquetil said.

People tend to pivot from grain- and plant-based diets to meat-based meals as they grow wealthier. The problem is that as meat demand grows, feed production needs to grow faster. It typically takes about two pounds of feed to produce a pound of chicken. For pork, it takes four pounds.

Expanded cultivation of soybeans — the foundation of livestock and poultry rations for decades — is not a long-term solution because it contributes to deforestation and overuse of harsh farm chemicals.

In addition, supplies of fishmeal — an aquaculture feed made from wild-caught fish and fish byproducts — have fluctuated wildly with climactic cycles, overfishing and regulation to prevent it.

Nutritionists and scientists have long touted insect consumption for humans as a sustainable and cheap source of protein, but snacking on bugs is a stomach-churning prospect for people in many countries and cultures. Introducing insect protein further down the food chain may be more palatable.

The bug business still has a few hurdles ahead — like the yuck factor, even when the insects are fed to animals. Regulators will also need to be convinced that ground-up bugs won’t introduce new toxins into the food supply.

“They are considered filth in the food system,” said Virginia Emery, CEO of Beta Hatch, which grows mealworms above an auto body shop near Seattle-Tacoma Airport.

Feeding bugs to fish

Cargill conducted an insect-based feed trial on poultry in 2015, but the company’s efforts with insects have since focused on bolstering its growing aquaculture business, where demand for alternative proteins is most acute.

Beta Hatch is chasing the same market. The small company’s mealworms — larvae of the mealworm beetle — will likely end up as fish food as Emery expands her business with the help of an investment from Wilbur Ellis, whose fish-farming customers have pressed for sustainable alternatives to fishmeal.

“Fishmeal has a limited supply, and aquaculture is continuing to grow,” said Andrew Loder, president of Wilbur Ellis’s feed division. “We see insect meal as one piece of a solution.”

Fish farming is growing fast with growing consumer demand and increasing concerns about overfishing, resulting in catch restrictions in many depleted fisheries. Warming oceans in some areas have also disrupted supplies.

That means fish eaten by humans will increasingly come from farms — driving up demand and prices for fish feed.

Fishmeal is made from wild-caught anchoveta, herring and other oily fish that represent about 25 per cent of a typical aquaculture feed ration, which typically also includes grains or soybean meal.

But fish farms cannot rely solely on crop-based feeds to nourish their naturally carnivorous stock.

“You can feed an animal all grain, and it will grow, but it may not grow as quickly and efficiently and may be prone to disease,” said Andrew Vickerson, chief technology officer at Enterra.

High in protein, fat

Insect farmers grow black soldier fly larvae and mealworms because they are docile, easy to grow and high in protein and digestible fat.

Mealworms can be grown with little water and studies have shown they can “rescue” nutrients by consuming grains not fit for livestock production without passing on harmful toxins. Black soldier fly larvae also contain high levels of calcium and iron and can feed on a broad array of food waste.

Crickets — a favourite for human consumption in some countries — are by contrast picky eaters. They’re also noisy, and can damage nearby crops if they escape.

Enterra is expanding to a second commercial-scale plant in Calgary within the next year and targeting opening similar facilities in other North American cities every year for the next five years, with financing from Calgary-based Avrio Capital and U.K.-based Wheat Sheaf.

Protix opened its first commercial black soldier fly larvae plant in the Netherlands in 2017 and will break ground on a second facility there later this year, aided by a US$50-million investment from Buhler (not to be confused with Winnipeg’s Buhler Industries). The Dutch company, working with fish farmers, has also launched a brand of “friendly salmon,” fed with rations containing insect meal instead of fishmeal.

“If we are able to be successful in Europe, then this will be a global solution,” said Protix CEO Kees Aarts.

Neither company would disclose the production costs or capacity, citing proprietary technology. But both said their insect feed prices are on par with to slightly above competing feeds like fishmeal.

Ohio-based EnviroFlight, a black soldier fly larvae producer, will break ground on the first commercial-scale insect meal production facility in the United States near Cincinnati later this year.

Regulatory hurdles

Humans have been eating insects for centuries, but the practice is not common in many western cultures and still spooks food regulators.

Black soldier fly larvae production has gained a handful of approvals in Europe, Canada and the United States, mostly for use in fish farms. Poultry, swine and pet food regulations are not as far along.

“Since fish eat insects in the wild naturally, it is easier for consumers to wrap their heads around insects as part of the feed,” Cargill’s Anquetil said.

Thorough safety testing of insects as feed will be critical for consumer acceptance, said Thomas Gremillion, director for the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America.

“If there was a big change in how animals are being fed, I’d want to see some extra scrutiny of whether the animals were accumulating any kinds of toxins from the insects,” he said.

It will take years for the insect-farming sector to scale up. But growing the business to even a small market share would make a big difference to the feed industry and the environment, said Robert Nathan Allen, an insect farmer and chairman of the North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture.

“If we’re replacing five or 10 per cent of the proteins that are normally in those feeds with insect protein,” Allen said, “that’s a lot of resources saved.”

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Still, they are less likely to be found on European restaurant menus than in animal feed, carefully controlled to prevent the kind of prions, or abnormal proteins, blamed for BSE.

The commission, the EU executive, is working on revised legislation on novel foods, after a previous proposal failed because of opposition to animal cloning.

It asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to research the safety of eating insects.

In a scientific opinion published on Oct. 8, EFSA said the use of insects as a source of food and feed potentially had important environmental, economic and food security benefits.

Farming of insects can lead to lower emissions of greenhouse gases and ammonia than cattle or pigs and higher efficiency in converting feed to protein, the report said.

“How and to what extent the inclusion of insects in gastronomy can impact the general consumption pattern in the population is unclear but (it) holds the potential for a rapid change in future consumption patterns,” EFSA’s report said.

Belgian supermarket operator Delhaize in 2014 introduced tapenades based on mealworms in its Belgian supermarkets, but they were not a hit.

“We opted not to have any visible insects in the products to lower the initial reluctance but even then we saw that the customer wasn’t ready for it,” a spokesman said.

Insect species believed to have the greatest potential for human food or animal feed in the EU include houseflies, mealworms, crickets and silkworms.

Especially in paste or other processed forms, they are considered as alternatives to mainstream animal sources of food such as chicken, pork, beef and fish as well as useful for animal feed.

In the event whole insects are distributed as food, they would be expected to undergo some processing, such as chilling and drying, and would be labelled with instructions for use.

In some cases, parts of the insect, such as the wings and legs of crickets, should be removed “to improve the eating experience and reduce choking risks,” EFSA said, drawing a comparison with peeling prawns.

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Experts hope that the love of edible insects in Democratic Republic of Congo may hold the key to tackling widespread hunger among its roughly 65 million people by scaling up a millennia-old consumption habit.

Edible insects have long been one of Congo’s most popular dishes. Often served as bar food or on special occasions, they are grilled and commonly served with hot pepper, lemon and onions.

“This is the main food of Congolese,” said Marie-Colette Bena, who sells clothing at the market. “I’m proud to eat that food.”

The average household in the capital Kinshasa consumes about 300 grams of caterpillars a week, according to a UN study but insect supplies can be seasonal and are generally more expensive than other types of food.

In Kinshasa, a kg of crickets costs about $50, more than twice the price of beef.

Congo’s Environment Ministry and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hope to capitalize on Congo’s affinity for the crunchy fare with a new program to promote insect cultivation, a plan that could make them more widely available and bring down prices.

The project, due to begin in October, will train 200 people — most of them women — in western Congo to cultivate caterpillars and crickets. Laurent Kikeba, who oversees the project for the FAO, said it would be the first of its kind in the world.

A national centre to promote insect harvesting will be launched and the FAO will work with the government to craft legal norms to regulate the sector.

In a 2013 report, the FAO hailed insect cultivation as a practical and environmentally friendly tool to boost food production as supply struggles to keep pace with global population growth.

The report notes insects are bountiful, widely consumed and contain high levels of protein, fat, vitamins, fibre and minerals. They tend to require less feed and yield more meat per kg than traditional protein sources.

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Armyworms continue to be found in many cereal fields. In many fields they are noticeable but not economical, however some fields have had levels greater than the 4 or more larvae/ft2 threshold and have been sprayed for armyworms.

A few things to consider when finding armyworms:

How patchy are levels in a field: Economic thresholds are usually based on levels on average over the whole field. Armyworms can be very patchy in a field, and are usually much more abundant in lodged areas of the field. So if finding high levels in a lodged patch of crop, don’t assume the whole field has those levels.

How close are they to finishing their crop feeding (larval) stage: The length of time spent as larvae varies with temperature. In studies where larvae were kept at a  constant temperature, larval stages lasted 16 days at 29 degrees Celsius, 26 days at 21 degrees Celsius, and 40 days at 17 degrees Celsius. Based on our current weather, they should be going through their larval stages in somewhere around 3 weeks. Mature larvae are 3 to 3.5 cm long. Once larvae are nearing the end of their larval period, insecticide applications to above threshold populations would become less economical. In samples of armyworms collected in the Carman area, some of the larvae are now turning to pupae. The photo below shows various stages of armyworms. The pupae (on the right in the photo) would normally be in the soil, but were exposed to show them next to the larvae. The smaller larva at the top of the photo is actually at a more advanced stage than the larvae below it. The armyworm caterpillars feed for the first part of their last larval stage, then stop feeding, become quite inactive and will shrink somewhat before turning in to a pupa. You may come across some of these and note that they move very little and don’t curl up when you disturb them.

Are there parasitoids of armyworms present: Quite a few people over the past week have sent in photos asking what are these “eggs” on the cereal heads, and noticing that they can be quite abundant in some fields. These are not eggs, but are the pupal cases of parasitic wasps. These are being found in fields that contained armyworms, and it is likely that armyworms were hosts for the parasitoids. For some parasitoids it is common for dozens of parasitoid larvae to emerge at the same time from an individual armyworm, killing it in the process. This is because an initial egg laid in the armyworm starts dividing and can become dozens or at times hundreds of eggs, that results in multiple parasitoid larvae of the same general age feeding in the armyworm. When the parasitoids emerge form the armyworm, they all emerge at approximately the same time, and very soon after form these clusters of pupal case, which are together in a cluster on the plants. So each cluster would have been parasitoids form a single armyworm, and will result in multiple wasps looking for more caterpillars to parasitize.

Read the full report on the Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development website.

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This report is based partially on observation by myself and my summer assistant. A large part of this information, however, is based on observations and reports from farm production advisors, agronomists, farmers, and others who contributed information over the season. This information was helpful in providing timely updates on where and when insects were of concern throughout the season, and it is a compilation of this data that makes up this summary. Thank you very much to those who contributed information over the growing season.

Note also that the information in the summary is what has been observed personally or reported, and may not be complete in many instances. Although we encourage the reporting of information on insect populations and control to make our weekly updates as complete and useful as possible, some areas of high insect populations and areas where control took place may not have been reported.

For more information on insects, visit the Insect Pages on the MAFRD website.

John Gavloski, is an entomologist at the Crops Knowledge Centre with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development

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Based upon leaf symptoms and a photo of an unusual adult moth taken in May by amateur photographer Stan Gosche, we suspect that maple leafcutters (Paraclemensia acerifoliella) are the insects causing the damage.

This species is not normally known to be found outside of southeastern Canada on its main host sugar maple (Acer saccharum), and it has never been reported on saskatoon. However, there are historical reports of maple leafcutter in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba and Kaslo, B. C.

It is possible that the Alberta outbreak could be a related, unnamed species. Positive identification awaits DNA analysis and examination of next spring’s adult moths.

The damage to leaves occurs when the insect is in the form of a tiny caterpillar, about six millimetres long. The caterpillars cut small ovals of leaf, and then construct a protective case from the cut pieces. The caterpillar fastens this case to the leaf surface, lives inside it, and skeletonizes the leaf (strips away the green tissue to leave only the leaf veins).

The damage becomes apparent in mid-July, and continues until mid- August, at which point the larvae drop to the ground in their cases.

The caterpillars then turn into small dark pupae, which change into moths the following spring to repeat the cycle.

Anyone who has seen this damage on saskatoons, particularly if it’s outside the Lac La Biche area, is asked to contact Greg Pohl at 780-435-7211 or gpohl@nrcan.gc.ca.

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Unfortunately, many of those bird populations are in decline. The reasons are varied and sometimes uncertain, but mitigated somewhat by ready access to an abundant food supply.

For many of the grassland birds, that food supply means grasshoppers. In agriculture, however, extraordinary numbers of grasshoppers can mean crop damage.

Believing that every insect has its ecological role, Dan Johnson at the University of Lethbridge wrote a book on how to identify grasshoppers on the Canadian Prairies. Grasshopper Identification and Control Methods, conceptualized by the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, helps readers identify pest species of grasshoppers from non-pest species.

There are four general rules of thumb when it comes to identifying non-pest species of grasshoppers, Johnson noted.

“The first rule is any grasshopper flying before June is not a pest,” he said.

The second rule is that crop pest grasshoppers hatch in late May and early June, are brown or black and always have tiny triangular wing buds, not large wings that can be folded back when examined closely.

The third rule: any hopper with hind wings highly visible in flight (red, yellow, orange or black) is not a pest. The fourth rule: any grasshopper that sings, calls, clacks, clatters or makes other similar sounds is not a pest. The pest species are silent, Johnson said.

The book is an easy read, starting with how to recognize grasshopper ages and stages. There are great photographs of pest species, like the two-striped grasshopper and the neutral or beneficial species.

Reducing the cost of pest management can only be a good thing, said Lynn Grant, chair of the environment committee for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA).

“The other major benefit is that by being very selective in taking out only the grasshoppers that are a serious problem for agriculture, producers also protect the food supply for the Prairie grassland songbirds,” said Grant.

Johnson’s book can be found online at http://www.saskpulse.com/news/latest_pulse_ news. php?detail=182 or http://research.uleth.ca/spg/under“Grasshopper Guide.”

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The fact that so many insects are seeking cooler climes is strong evidence of global warming, said Camille Parmesan, an American conservation biologist specializing in insects and climate change.

She spoke at a recent joint meeting of the Canadian and Manitoba entomological societies.

ON THE MOVE

Species movement is not a new phenomenon for insects. But previous shifts occurred within the past several hundred thousand years when the climate was either similar to today’s or cooler, said Parmesan.

“Where we’re going to is a climate warmer than we’ve had in two or three million years. So we are losing whole climate spaces for a lot of our species that are basically cold adapted. Those cannot just move around because their entire climate space is disappearing,” she said in an interview.

What’s making it even harder for insects to move is that humans now dominate the landscape, Parmesan said.

“It’s very difficult for most species to cross, say, the L. A. (Los Angeles)-San Diego corridor or the Illinois-Midwestern crop fields. The species that can do that are the ones that are already urban or pest species, which are not necessarily the ones we care about.”

Climate change is already laying waste to some species, with more expected, Parmesan noted.

Scientists last year announced the likely extinction of the white lemuroid possum of Queensland, Australia, which lived only above 1,000 metres in altitude. It is the first mammal believed to go extinct because of rising temperatures resulting from climate change.

CAN’T TAKE THE HEAT

Parmesan’s own groundbreaking 1996 study of the Edith’s checkerspot butterfly, located along the Pacific coast of North America, found three-fourths of the insect’s populations had disappeared at lower latitudes, as compared to only a 20 per cent loss in Canada.

The checkerspot butterfly is sensitive to warmer temperatures because its host plant dries out and eliminates the insect’s food source while it is still in the caterpillar stage. Its decline is one indicator of a changing climate, Parmesan concluded.

Her study drew scorn from some pundits, including the acerbic U. S. radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who derided Parmesan and her study.

But Parmesan believes recent developments support her conclusion that insects can signal alterations in climate.

“The individual butterfly may not make any difference. But a lot of these species are indicators of whole ecosystem changes.”

EXPLODING POPULATIONS

One example, according to another conference presenter, is the pine beetle currently ravaging forests in British Columbia. Cold winter weather used to keep the insect in check. But recent warm summers and mild winters have caused populations to explode, turning vast expanses of green forest into dead brown trees. An estimated 25 per cent of B. C. pine forest is affected.

But while the pine beetle is an invasive species requiring control, many insect species are non-invasive and need protecting, Parmesan feels.

Parmesan proposes a controversial approach to saving threatened insect species: transplanting them from habitats under pressure to friendlier ones.

The idea of assisted migration appalls some biologists, who say transplantation actually causes species endangerment: an exotic species comes in, takes over and pushes other species out.

But Parmesan said fewer than 20 per cent of exotic species are invasive and most settle into their new homes with no disruption to the ecosystem. ron@fbcpublishing.com

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Primary stored product insects such as rusty grain beetle, red flour beetle and saw-toothed grain beetle can occasionally be found in stored canola if cereal grain or weed seeds are mixed in with the canola.

If you find insects in your stored canola, take appropriate measures to control the infestation as soon as possible. The presence of secondary insects, such as fungus feeders, may be an indication that your canola is not being stored properly.

OPTIONS FOR INSECT CONTROL

Heat – Insects exposed to a grain temperature of 50C for about 15 minutes will be killed. If your grain requires drying, this may be an effective option.

Cold – Prolonged exposure to cold temperatures will kill most insects. However, grain bins over six metres (20 feet) in diameter will not cool sufficiently on their own to control some insects.

To ensure the entire volume gets sufficient cold exposure, aerate or turn the grain while the outside temperature is low. The time required to kill insects depends on the grain temperature. For example:

A grain temperature of -5C takes about 12 weeks to kill most insects.

A grain temperature of -10C takes about eight weeks to kill most insects.

A grain temperature of -15C takes about four weeks to kill most insects.

A grain temperature of -20C takes about one week to kill most insects.

Impact – The physical impact of travelling through a pneumatic conveyor will control most mites and insects in your canola.

HOW TO PREVENT INSECT INFESTATIONS

Adjust combine settings to harvest sound seed and to minimize chaff and weed seeds in the sample. Before binning newly harvested canola, make sure the bin is free of chaff, seeds and foreign material. If considering a bin treatment, a registered diatomaceous earth product can be used to treat empty bins but should never be used directly on canola seed as the product will not be effective.

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