Written by Stephen O Aderinto, Edited by Charlotte Pugsley, Caroline Babisz and Aonghus Topham.
Introduction
In a recent publication, Beta Bugs argued that farming requires redefinition. Pressure on farmers to consider alternative farm practices has been raised to a fever pitch, thanks to the 3-in-1 deleterious effects of food waste, deforestation, and carbon emissions of current farming methods. In navigating a viable way forward for the agricultural industry, farmers are increasingly shifting their attention to insect farming, which will help bring a new face to agriculture.
What is Insect Farming?
Insect farming is an up-and-coming concept that refers to the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of insects. Insects can be used for several purposes, including as an ingredient for animal feed. Insect farming is done in such a way that the diet of insects is well monitored and controlled to comply with the current standards of animal feed.
There is no doubt that insect farming offers enormous benefits, for example:
Insect farming scale-up is not yet well implemented, both in specialisation and segmentation. This is due to a number of reasons, including economic vulnerability in terms of a higher price volatility often associated with scale enlargement and specialisation. As a result, farmers are unsure whether insect farming scale-up is economically viable and is the best practice to embrace.3 Even though this is concerning, it is not a situation without hope. The good news is that some partner companies are already offering solutions so that insect farmers can scale faster in their production, unlock efficiencies and produce insect ingredients at a better price. Insect farmers are encouraged to bide their time as they wait for a better scale-up future.
Way Forward for Insect Farming
The best way for farmers to get started with insect farming is simply to immerse themselves into it and begin some of the practices. For example, some farmers in Europe have been officially licensed to use processed animal proteins from insects as feed for poultry and pig feed.4 Such changes in regulations and legislations have ensured an increase in the production capacity of the sector.5 Beta Bugs is currently ensuring this initiative will be implemented within the UK insect farming industry, providing hope for the sector.
To increase awareness and education of the area, several companies have launched insect training platforms. Such include the Netherland company Insect Engineers, which was recently opened in June 2022, the Finnish company Manna Insect, and Better Insect Solutions (BIS) (which comprises INNO+, SKOV, and Big Dutchman), to mention a few. Additionally, some of the companies mentioned above provide insect farmers with technologies to help achieve optimum climate conditions, for example, INNO+’s modular air scrubber for integration with ventilation systems. Climate control is vital for insects, as they are cold-blooded animals that rely heavily on the temperature and humidity in their environment to thrive, making such technology highly beneficial.
The Future of Insect Farming
A study by the NSF, has deemed insect farming as the next frontier in agriculture and according to Jeffery Tomberlin “The insects as food and feed sector is growing and diversifying quickly. I truly feel it is accurate to say that this space is vast and presents tremendous opportunities for many individuals with such an interest like you”.6 With massive industrial funding provided by various industry partners, there is no denying that the future of insect farming is indeed bright.
The incorporation of technology into agriculture has led to many insect farming companies to re-think how they farm, some examples of companies making waves in this space are listed below.
The Insect Protein Market by 2030
The ‘International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed’ (IPIFF) predicts that the insect sector will become a significant component of European agriculture in the next decade, with:
1. More than 10% of the fish consumed in the EU coming from fish farms that use insect protein in their feed.7
2. 1 in 4 eggs consumed in Europe coming from insect-fed laying hens, while 1 in 5 portions of chicken meat coming from insect-fed broilers.7
3. 1 in 100 servings of pork coming from insect-fed pigs.7
Some companies are developing solutions to help insect producers automate their production tools; Dilepix is one of them. Industrial insect farming is growing rapidly in Europe for both food and feed. It is certain that this trend will continue to grow, and as such, Dilepix has developed an automatic counting solution for BSF and Mealworm larvae. This solution is already on the market. Artificial intelligence technologies make human operators more efficient when controlling production. As a result of the powerful measurement tools provided by Dilepix, the operator can free themselves from certain less valuable tasks. Operators can then focus on tasks that add real value to the organisation.
What Beta Bugs Offers
Beta Bugs’ first production facility, The Multiplier®, was recently launched. With the Multiplier®, the company can scale up its small genetic batches and provide its customers with large quantities of high-value products.
Beta Bugs is an insect genetics company developing and distributing black soldier fly breeds to the insect farming sector in the UK and beyond. Moreover, Beta Bugs is seeking to genetically modify its breed of larvae to improve their production traits (such as high protein and mass contents), fertility and survival, thus enhancing their economic success.
About Beta Bugs
Beta Bugs is a developer and distributor of breeds, headquartered in Roslin Edinburgh, United Kingdom, founded by Thomas Farrugia in 2017. The biotechnology company currently has a workforce of 13 staff, and it has received up to £1.8M in public sector funding, along with private sector investment over the past 5 years of its establishment.8
The Future of Insect Farming
Insect farming appears to be a viable practice, but there are still some obvious challenges associated with it, such as the difficulty of mass rearing insects. However, the high protein content of insects will make it a mainstay in agriculture in the near future. Since insect farming shows great promise to revolutionise agriculture, is about time farmers across the globe started implementing it as a farm practice.
The insect farming industry offers professional body membership opportunities, including:
1. The International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF).
2. The Asian Food and Feed Insect Association (AFFIA).
3. Insect Industry UK (IIUK).
4. The Insect Protein Association of Australia (IPAA).
Various events have been held for insect farmers to exchange knowledge. Beta Bugs Ltd has featured in several such events, including The British Pig & Poultry Fair, the Low Carbon Agricultural Show in March 2022, and the EIT Food workshop, in October 2022 in Glasgow.
1. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/7597.
2. Y.-S. Wang and M. Shelomi, Review of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) as Animal Feed and Human Food, Foods, 2017, 6, 91.
3. K. de Roest, P. Ferrari, K. Knickel, Specialisation and economies of scale or diversification and economies of scope? Assessing different agricultural development pathways, Journal of Rural Studies, 2018, 59, 222–231.
4. L. Gasco, G. Acuti, P. Bani, A. D. Zotte, P. P. Danieli, A. De Angelis, R. Fortina, R. Marino, G. Parisi,
G. Piccolo, L. Pinotti, A. Prandini, A. Schiavone, G. Terova, F. Tulli, A. Roncarati, Insect and fish by-products as sustainable
alternatives to conventional animal proteins in animal nutrition, Italian Journal of Animal Science,
2020, 19(1), 360–372.
6. Beta Buzz, A Publication for the Insect Farming Industry, Page 22, see the link https://www.betabugs.uk/beta-buzz-issue-2/.
7. https://www.dilepix.com/en/blog/europe-allows-insect-proteins-for-poultry-and-pig.
8. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/beta-bugs.
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