Soil Series #3: Why Dung Beetles Are Some of the Hardest Workers on Our Ranch

Soil Series #3: Why Dung Beetles Are Some of the Hardest Workers on Our Ranch

When most people think about improving soil, they imagine tractors, compost, or fertilizer.

But some of the most important soil builders on our ranch are much smaller.

Dung beetles.

These insects may not look impressive at first glance, but they play a massive role in turning manure into fertile soil.

And over the past few years, we’ve seen their activity increase dramatically on our pastures.

What Dung Beetles Actually Do

Every time cattle graze, they leave behind manure.

Without dung beetles, that manure simply sits on the surface until weather slowly breaks it down. (Years to do, in many cases).

But when dung beetles are active, something very different happens.

Within hours of a cow pat hitting the ground:

• beetles arrive
• manure gets broken apart
• portions of it are buried underground
• soil microbes begin processing it

Instead of staying on the surface, nutrients are quickly moved into the soil where plants can use them.

Nature’s Nutrient Recycling System

Dung beetles help cycle nutrients back into the pasture much faster than natural decomposition alone.

By burying manure, they help distribute:

• nitrogen
• phosphorus
• potassium
• carbon
• microbial life

This process feeds soil biology and helps grass roots access nutrients more efficiently.

In many cases, a cow pat can disappear in 24–48 hours when dung beetle populations are healthy.

Why This Matters for Soil Health

Dung beetles do more than just clean up manure.

Their tunneling activity improves the soil in several ways:

1. Improved Soil Aeration

Their tunnels create pathways that allow oxygen to reach deeper layers of soil.

Healthy roots need oxygen just as much as they need water.

2. Better Water Infiltration

The small channels they create allow rainfall to move deeper into the soil instead of running off the surface.

This helps pasture retain moisture during dry periods.

3. Faster Organic Matter Cycling

By moving manure underground, dung beetles speed up the conversion of organic material into stable soil organic matter.

This supports the long-term soil building we’ve been working toward on the ranch.

The Types of Dung Beetles We’re Seeing

Two years ago in 2024, dung beetles started showing up. We observed two primary types of beetles working our pastures:

• Tunneling beetles, which bury manure directly beneath the pat (up to an impressive 16 inches underground!)
• Rolling beetles, sometimes called “Rainbow Rollers,” which form small balls of manure and move them away from the original pile.  In 2026, we've seen a 2nd species of rollers show up, a very small black colored roller beetle in addition to the Rainbow Rollers.  (We've noticed that the rollers especially LOVE pig poop!)
• Dweller beetles, a species that lives directly in the dung pat showed up last year in 2025.

All three types help move nutrients through the soil in different ways.

Seeing multiple species is usually a sign of a healthy soil ecosystem, and so far, we've identified 4 different species.

Why Dung Beetles Are Returning

Healthy dung beetle populations depend on a few key things:

• living pasture year-round
• manure from grazing animals
• minimal chemical disturbance (that means no chemical fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides including fly spray or deworming medication for livestock)
• good soil moisture and biology

As we’ve employed regenerative management practices from the founding of our ranch in 2023 — including rotational grazing and building soil organic matter — the conditions for dung beetles have improved.

And nature has responded.

Small Creatures, Big Impact

Dung beetles are easy to overlook, but their work adds up over time.

Every tunnel they dig helps improve soil structure.

Every bit of manure they bury feeds microbes and plants.

And every cow pat they process accelerates the nutrient cycle on the ranch and disrupts the life cycle of flies that bother the cows.

In regenerative agriculture, we often talk about working with nature instead of against it.

Dung beetles are a perfect example of that principle.

They’re tiny partners in the long-term work of rebuilding healthy soil.  Protecting them improves the soil.

What’s Next in the Soil Series

In the next post, we’ll explore something many farmers view as a problem — but can actually be a valuable indicator.

Weeds.

The plants growing in a pasture often tell a story about what’s happening in the soil beneath them.

We’ll talk about how to read those signals and what they can teach us.

— Dos Lobos Ranch