Specialist K9 conservation company Luna Hounds has started applying the extraordinary scent-detection capabilities of working dogs on macadamia farms to find pests before farmers can see them, helping growers target treatment more precisely and potentially reducing the need for insecticides.

Luna Hounds says K9 teams can detect macadamia felted coccid (scale insects) in the field at 99% accuracy, with a trained dog team being able to search one hectare in 11 minutes if no infestation is present.

These pests are often difficult to identify visually, which means working dogs can fundamentally change how farmers approach pest management.

Luna Hounds first started deploying dogs in anti-poaching efforts before venturing into agricultural detection. In the citrus industry, K9 teams have detected single false codling moth (FCM) infestations within 30 seconds and among bins containing thousands of fruit samples.

This breakthrough prompted Luna Hounds founder Robynne Oosthuizen to approach the macadamia industry to explore what else dogs could detect.

Oosthuizen initially approached Green Farms Nut Company about applying the technology to FCM in macadamias. After assessing the practicalities, however, the focus shifted to macadamia felted coccid - particularly its potential to help growers determine whether orchards with uncertain pest status are infested, and to screen nursery material before pests can be spread to new growing regions.

"We started looking at farms where growers weren't sure whether they had an infestation, as well as nurseries where early detection could help prevent the pest from spreading into new areas.”

"Unlike conventional pest scouting, which relies heavily on visual inspection, the dogs are trained to identify the scent signature associated with infestation," says Green Farms Nut Company agricultural technical manager Barry Christie.

Notably, the dogs do not need to see the pest, simply detect changes in the scent profile of plants. When the pest enters the plant, the composition changes and the dogs can pick that up, Oosthuizen states.

Additionally, trainers can assess the intensity of the dogs' alerts to help indicate whether infestation levels are high or low. Findings are recorded through a dedicated app and trees are physically marked for farmers. The farmers also receive a report identifying areas requiring attention.

The prospect of lower insecticide spraying costs is particularly beneficial for the macadamia industry given that it faces increased global supply concerns, weaker prices and tighter farming margins. "For growers, finding ways to improve efficiency, protect yields and reduce unnecessary input is increasingly important," Christie notes.

“The idea that dogs trained for conservation can be retrained to help farmers find pests in an orchard is extraordinary. But what makes it particularly interesting is the practical potential: helping growers identify problems earlier, target their interventions and ultimately use fewer inputs where they are not needed," he adds.

Luna Hounds currently has 17 operational dogs, with training starting at three months of age and dogs starting to work from about two years of age. Rather than selling individual detection dogs, the company provides specialist K9 teams to farmers, tailoring deployment according to farm size and the location and suspected intensity of pests.

Luna Hounds is also exploring applications in the sugar cane industry. "We are only beginning to understand what these dogs can do for agriculture. From protecting rhino to protecting orchards, the underlying principle remains the same: finding what humans cannot easily see and acting before the problem gets bigger," Oosthuizen concludes.