Hog Wild Beetle Control

March 5th, 2008 · No Comments · Environment, Going Green, Natural
Post written by Jason

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Jim Koan a farmer has teamed up with Michigan State University in an effort to study the effectiveness of using pigs to control the beetle infestation he was having on his 120 acre organic apple orchard. He remembered his grandfather use to herd pigs into the orchard when he was a kid and was not sure why. Together they released the the pigs into three one acre sections of the orchard in June when the larvae of the the beetles cause the apples to drop prematurely. Koan and the research team from Michigan State were both surprised by the results. The pigs went through the orchard like a Dyson through a dorm room and sucked up 98% of all the young apples on the ground digesting the larvae in the process and organically doing what farmers have had to do with the pesticide azinphos-methyl. Koan and the research team will be studying the effect of the pigs on the orchard over the next two years thanks to a one year grant from the US Department of Agriculture.Source: MSNBC

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