Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1170186
A L M O N D O R C H A R D 2 0 2 5 G O A L S ZERO WASTE 6 From Research to Reality: A Super Fly Story In the world of beneficial insects, black soldier flies and black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are approaching superstar status. They efficiently accelerate the decomposition of organic waste. They are a sustainable and clean source of protein for aquaculture, animal feed, pet and, yes, human nutrition. They're relatively easy to farm, requiring far less feed and space than most other sources of protein. In theory, insect protein can produce as much protein in one acre of land as 2,000 acres of soy. Some believe they could revolutionize the world's food supply. But wait, there's more… BSFL like almond hulls, and companies that are working on commercializing BSFL like the value that almond hulls bring to the cultivation process. Thanks to research conducted by UC Davis, with funding from the Almond Board of California (ABC), studies have found that almond hulls are a suitable feedstock for larvae production. These findings are the spark that ignited a burgeoning industry — one that is gaining momentum as the market continues seeking alternative sources for protein and as the almond industry itself seeks alternative uses for almond coproducts. Research sparks startup BSFL are indiscriminate eaters. They will devour food waste, yard waste and even municipal waste. However, BSFL destined for animal feed are subject to more stringent rules that require the larvae to be grown using pre-consumer food waste. This created the opportunity for exploration around almond hulls as BSFL feed, leading ABC to invest in research at UC Davis. Led by Dr. Jean VanderGheynst with UC Davis's Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, a research team fed ground almond hulls to BSFL, assessing growth rates and the nutritional content of the cultivated larvae. A key member of Dr. VanderGheynst's research team was Lydia Palma, a Ph.D. student in the department. Palma led the feeding trials and caught "the bug" — pun intended. "Black soldier fly larvae are amazing," Palma said. "There is tremendous potential here to solve the world problem of food production using fewer resources." Inspired by the potential around BSFL, Palma, with two fellow UC Davis grad students and one researcher, formed a new venture. Called BioMilitus, the company is exploring how BSFL can be used to take agricultural byproducts — almond hulls, grape pomace, tomato and citrus waste, etc. — and turn them into animal feed. With a pilot currently underway, BioMilitus is gathering data and preparing to scale up production. Within four to five years, they hope to turn out four tons of larvae per day as well as large amounts of compost. BSFL become commercialized Hermetia Pro is another company inspired by recent research in BSFL. Launched in 2017 by John Paul (JP), who serves as managing partner, and Eric Tilton, a member of the Technology and Engineering department, Hermetia Pro is a commercial insect farming operation that uses BSFL to cultivate insect-based protein for animal feed — primarily for poultry, fish and pets. Using BSFL consumption of almond hulls, the company converts the hulls into valuable proteins and premium soil amendments. They oversee the entire lifecycle — breeding to harvestable adult — but their main focus is breeding the larvae. In fact, according to JP, Hermetia Pro is one of two companies in the world to commercially breed BSFL, meaning they're one of two companies to provide BSFL eggs for sale to other large companies to purchase. "Almond hulls are a sustainable ingredient in BSFL feed because they offer a consistent supply — we always have hulls to work with — and because their consistent genetic, biological composition makes them a great control input for us. Having a consistent input in the larvae is vital to our operation as it allows us to efficiently continue to improve the feed Third-generation almond grower Paul Parreira is a partner at RPAC Almonds and member of ABC's Biomass Workgroup. Managing partner John Paul is one of two original founders of Hermetia Pro. Continue on page 7 "We source all of our hulls from California almonds, which means we can offer our customers full traceability — from field to fly." – John Paul