A free event invites farmers to learn more
Just as Batman has been known to use live bats to thwart crime in Gotham City, B.C. farmers are invited to learn about employing bats to stop insects causing crop and livestock damage.
The Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society and the BC Community Bat Program are hosting a free event on Nov. 7 at Burrowing Owl Winery in Oliver to teach farmers about the benefits of welcoming bats on their farms.
“Bats provide natural and free pest control,” the event listing says. “They eat a lot of insects that damage field crops, orchards, vineyards, and harass and sicken livestock. This natural pest control saves you money. A single bat can eat its own weight in insects every night.”
For example, bats feed on mosquitoes and biting flies that target cattle. And they eat insects found in fields like cutworms and cucumber beetles.
The BC Community Bat Program estimates a colony of 150 big brown bats can eat about 38,000 cucumber beetles in one summer. And adding bats to the insect management program could reduce the need for pesticides.
The free event will also cover the topic of how to attract bats.
Old buildings and trees around the farm can provide suitable living spaces for these nocturnal predators.
Property owners also have the option of building a bat box to support potential colonies.
Farmers using bats to protect their crops happens around the world.
In South Africa, for example, bats reduced stinkbug damage on macadamia orchards by up to 23 per cent.
In Brazil bats saved around $94 per hectare of corn.
And estimates from the U.S. say bats save American agriculture “billions of dollars per year in pest control.”