Insect droppings, commonly known as insect frass, may seem useless and downright disgusting, but scientists found that this waste can improve soil health when added as a fertilizer in farming.

You can take all that food and feed it to these cockroaches and grow plants with their frass.” Biology and chemistry senior Alex Atwood stands in the doorway of the Radford University cockroach ...

The global insect protein market was valued at nearly $1 billion in 2022 (£805m), while global frass was valued at $96 million (£77m) in 2023, and frass's projected growth is substantially higher.

The global market for insect protein was worth almost $1 billion in 2022, whereas the global market for frass was worth $96 million in 2023, with frass's growth estimated to be much greater.

Insect frass is a mixture of excreta, feed, and molted skins. These droppings are a by-product of farming insects like yellow mealworms, banded crickets, and black soldier flies.