2024 Winter

Nature’s Night Shift

Bats are proving to be invaluable partners in agriculture, offering natural pest control and improving crop health and productivity.

As the sun sets and farmers and ranchers wrap up their day’s work, one vital group begins its work – bats. From pest control to supporting regenerative principles, these nocturnal flying mammals are essential in maintaining healthy ecosystems.

A partnership between Noble Research Institute and Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation (MTBC) is at the forefront of studying how bats contribute to agriculture.

“Through research and real-world applications, like Troy Swift’s use of bat houses in his pecan orchards, the team is uncovering the important impact bats have on biodiversity through alternative pest control,” says Lauren Jones, senior research associate at Noble.

bat fly out of cave
Millions of Mexican free-tailed bats emerge in waves from Bracken Cave Preserve to hunt each night.

The Silent Pest Managers

Merlin Tuttle, founder of MTBC and leading international bat expert, has long championed the global impact of bats on both biodiversity and agriculture.

At a recent MTBC event in San Marcos, Texas, Tuttle showcased photographs of various bats he’s encountered during his conservation career.

“The stranger the bat looks, the better their technology,” Tuttle says. He explains that although bats are often misunderstood and mistakenly feared by humans, they provide important benefits for pest control in agriculture. “Bats are absolutely central foundations for biodiversity worldwide,” he says, emphasizing their role in controlling pest populations that would otherwise require chemical management. With more than 200 bats housed in a single bat box, the numbers quickly become staggering.

“A single bat can eat a thousand or more insects in a night, and that makes a big difference for farmers,” Tuttle says.

Their work is not just limited to one crop or region – bats are hard at work across a variety of agricultural settings, including orchards, grazing lands and even rice fields. Tuttle shares that in Thailand, bats help control pests in rice fields, leading to healthier crops and significant economic benefits.

“Guano sales for fertilizer at Khao Chong Pran Cave in Thailand moved from $12,000 annually to almost $100,000 and now over $200,000 annually,” Tuttle says, demonstrating the value bats offer beyond pest control.

Closer to home, bats are proving just as beneficial for American farmers and ranchers. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, bats contribute an estimated $1 billion annually to the U.S. corn industry by consuming pests like the corn earworm moth. In Texas alone, Brazilian free-tailed bats and other bat species are conservatively estimated to save farmers and ranchers $1.4 billion annually.

Ongoing efforts at producer orchards and Noble’s research orchards are focused on measuring the impact bats have on key pecan pests, such as the pecan nut casebearer and hickory shuckworm, two moths that damage pecan trees by laying eggs that hatch into larvae and feed on immature pecans.

bat house
A bat emerges from its house at Swift River Pecans as day gives way to dusk.

Using Bats In The Pecan Orchard

Troy Swift, owner of Swift River Pecans in Lockhart, Texas, is one of the pioneering pecan producers using bats as a natural pest control method. After managing his orchard conventionally for years, Swift found that rising costs for inputs like fertilizers and pesticides were cutting into his profits.

“The inputs have become more expensive than the pecans. So, I decided to find another way out of necessity,” Swift says.

That “other way” was regenerative agriculture, a system focused on building soil health, enhancing biodiversity and reducing chemical inputs. It was during this transition that Swift realized the potential of bats in his orchards.

Swift installed bat boxes in his pecan groves in the late fall of 2021, and bats arrived by the following summer.

“We’re using bats – we call them the night shift and birds the day shift,” Swift says. “Since installing the bat houses, we’ve observed fewer pests and healthier trees.”

Swift, who runs a sawmill, uses salvaged lumber to build bat boxes he sells to other farmers.

“It’s probably the only hope bats have,” Swift says, who is also president of the Texas Pecan Growers Association. “We have to prove what they do for agriculture,” he adds, highlighting the need for farmers to recognize bats’ role in reducing pesticide use by controlling insect populations naturally.

The benefits go beyond just pest control. Swift is participating in ongoing research to analyze bat guano and identify which pests the bats are consuming. Early studies suggest that bats are particularly attracted to the moth phases of pests like the pecan nut casebearer, but Swift is eager to see what other pecan pests the bats might be helping to manage.

Tuttle is quick to point out that bats are not just an afterthought in regenerative agriculture – they are an essential component.

“Bats play a key role in controlling pests and maintaining healthy ecosystems,” he says, adding that their presence is a marker of a balanced, biodiverse farm.

This symbiotic relationship between bats and agriculture fits well with the goals of regenerative principles. By reducing chemical inputs and encouraging natural pest control methods, farmers can improve soil health, boost biodiversity and ultimately create more resilient farming systems.

As Swift notes, the transition to regenerative practices can be challenging, but the long-term benefits are undeniable.

“My goal is to be profitable by being environmentally conscious and leaving the land better than I found it,” he says. “The goal is to create a pest management system that works in harmony with nature, minimizing disturbance to the soil and reducing reliance on chemical inputs.”

bat house workshop
Troy Swift tells workshop participants how he recycles fallen timber to construct bat houses.

Partnering To Inspire Bat Conservation Worldwide

The partnership between Noble Research Institute and Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation is poised to bring even more insights into bats’ role in agriculture. This collaboration explores bats’ role and ability as an alternative pest management strategy. From its work, the partnership will disseminate information and educational materials to equip farmers and ranchers with the ability to incorporate bats into their operations.

This collaboration will expand Noble’s Pecan Research Strategy project, a six-year program launched in 2023. As part of a comprehensive assessment of orchard management practices and economic impacts, the study uses bat guano to genetically identify specific bat species and their diet of economically impactful pecan pests. Examples of such pests include pecan nut casebearers, hickory shuckworms and stinkbugs.

“A key component of our research on bats and pest control involves the detailed analysis of bat guano. To determine which pests the bats are consuming, the process begins with guano collection followed by DNA isolation, using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to identify the insect presence within the samples,” says Kim Cooper, Noble research associate. She adds that this process is intricate, and relies heavily on partnerships with bat rescue organizations, which have been instrumental in collecting the necessary bat guano for identification.

“We’re incredibly grateful to the Bat

World Sanctuary and the Austin Bat Refuge for their support in helping us collect control samples,” Cooper says. “Their willingness to assist us in gathering these crucial samples has allowed us to take an important step forward in understanding the role bats play in managing orchard pests.”

With all control samples now in place, the team is eager to begin uncovering the mysteries of what bats are consuming in the orchard environments. The data from these guano samples will provide critical insights into how bats can serve as an alternative pest management strategy.

“We are still placing bat boxes in locations that we feel should be attractive to bats and checking for guano regularly. It’s a slow process, but the potential benefits for pest control and biodiversity are significant,” says Laura Putman, another Noble research associate on the team.

Early results are promising, and the team is optimistic that bats can play a key role in regenerative farming systems, not only in nut orchards like Swift’s, but in livestock operations as well.

As the research continues, the hope is that more farmers and ranchers will recognize the value of bats in their operations. Whether through installing bat houses or simply encouraging wild bat populations through regenerative practices like lowering use of pesticides, producers can help protect and partner with these nocturnal creatures as powerful allies.

“Bats are really essential to biodiversity on our planet,” Tuttle concludes, “but we need to communicate that clearly.”

Through Noble’s partnership with MTBC, that message is beginning to spread. With further research and collaboration, bats could become a cornerstone of regenerative agriculture, helping to build a healthier, more sustainable future for producers.

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