WHEN it comes to environmentally friendly, cost-effective weed control for our horse paddocks and fields, it’s safe to say we don’t have too much choice. However, thanks to Irish company The Green Submarine, there may just be a new solution to the menace of docks for equine farmers in the shape of a shiny little green beetle.

The Green Submarine is run by Mayo-based couple, Louis and Siobhan Ward, who are agricultural consultants, and originally bred the beetles for the ABP-led initiative promoting on-farm environmentally sustainable and regenerative farming practices.

The Wards, who run their own farm stocked with pedigree Angus cattle, can supply Irish farmers with their secret weapon in the war on docks – Gastrophysa viridula, known as the green dock beetle. For farmers who want to control docks, the beetles provide a natural, simple, biological solution which avoids the environmental damage associated with application of chemical herbicides. Once deployed on a farm, the dock beetle breeds to colonise the whole field, returning every year to keep the docks at bay.

Siobhan Ward, co-founder of The Green Submarine explained: “We noticed something eating docks in one of our fields and some research showed it was dock beetles. We gradually introduced the beetles to the rest of the farm, and we no longer need to spray for docks.”

The Green Submarine now breeds beetles in polytunnels on an industrial scale, marketing them to farmers as a one-off, cost-effective, ever-lasting alternative to chemical herbicides.

“The population of dock beetles will initially rise to decimate the dock weed naturally, then fall back as its success diminishes its natural food supply in a sustainable way, on an annual basis, all for a one-off outlay which is far cheaper than administering just one application of weed killer,” explained Louis Ward.

“Dock beetles are native and natural predators of docks. They skeletonise dock leaves and keep them at an acceptable level in grassland. Crucially, the beetle hibernates for the winter and reappears each spring, giving very low long-term cost.”

From €90 per hectare, The Green Submarine can ship beetles out for farmers to distribute themselves, or can offer a service option provided by the expert team.