ARTICLE 66 Alternative Proteins Magazine April 2024 Now is an exceptionally good time to farm insects as there is more off-the-shelf insect farming equipment and know-how available from well-known suppliers, making it easier to farm insects. By joining in at this moment, farmers are able to leverage a local, yet global, opportunity and be part of one of the world’s fastest growing industries. THE BENEFITS OF INSECT FARMING DIVERSIFICATION When it comes to diversification, insect farming equipment providers give existing farmers the means to produce their own protein on-farm using on-farm surplus heat, space, and energy they have available. Insects such as Black Soldier Fly Larvae can be reared at high densities, meaning tonnes of protein can be produced from a relatively small footprint, reducing feed ration costs at small-scale. As a result, the best way for farmers to leverage insect farming is to become an insect farmer themselves. By working with established technology and BSF egg and/or juvenile BSF larvae suppliers such as Beta Bugs, farmers can now produce Black Soldier Fly larvae at a range of scales – be it small-scale systems (12 tonne of live larvae/year) that produce larvae for on-farm usage or by supplying neighboring farms, or large-scale facilities (1000+ tonne of insect meal/year) that will supply animal feed manufacturers. Both these routes allow farmers to diversify their operations in a low-carbon manner. For those who want to establish large-scale production, the diversification opportunity is similar to setting up large-scale animal production where farmers target a scale of production in the thousands of tonnes/year, with the resulting insect protein and fat being supplied to feed manufacturers in the livestock, aqua and pet sectors to generate revenue. Alternatively, the protein is used directly within large-scale animal production operations, especially if a feed mill is available on site. If on-farm production is not possible or desired, farmers can still use insects within their feeding regime by working with local suppliers of insect protein. Furthermore, farmers can use agricultural product that has not been taken up by the supply chain as a feed for growing black soldier fly larvae on, turning a potential waste stream into a circular protein source. Lastly, the frass (insect excreta) is rich in Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, meaning it can be used as an on-farm fertiliser to reduce fertilizer costs or sold on to create a further revenue stream. HOW BETA BUGS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE INSECT FARMING INDUSTRY At Beta Bugs, we have created Just-Fly™, which is available in the form of BSF eggs through our dedicated multiplication and BSF egg production centre – The Multiplier™. Multiplication is a key part of all genetics sectors and ensures we can supply our industry with the scale it requires. Just-Fly™ is our first product, reared to the same high zootechnical standards as our elite BSF egg product, HiPer-Fly®, but not put through our breeding programme. It provides market entrants with the opportunity to fast track towards creating profitable and scalable impact whilst developing an understanding of Black Soldier Fly husbandry and stockmanship, establishing key processes to rear it. It also caters to operators who are simply looking to up-scale production rapidly or avoid running a fly rearing operation whilst becoming familiar with working with a genetics partner that is dedicated to enabling their operation. Our flexible batch sizes and pricing enables operators to conduct the R&D, piloting and production that they need and when they need it, so that they can then bring larger facilities online. This also streamlines operations as focussing on larval rearing simplifies the rearing operation significantly. It means that the entire facility footprint can be dedicated to the step that generates revenue – protein production and processing.
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