The Farmer-led Moth Monitoring EIP project investigated for the first time the suitability of a farmer-led pollinator monitoring technique in the Irish context and developed a basic farm moth monitoring system suitable for national rollout. The project has also produced information on whether the number of moth species changes by farm type (beef, dairy, mixed, and tillage) and land usage within the farm.
Twenty farmers from Kildare, Laois, and Wicklow independently operated moth traps and monitored moth populations on their farms. The success of this project illustrates the need for a nationwide and long-term monitoring programme to reliably track the distributions and population trends of moths on Irish farmland. In addition, this experiment has demonstrated that farmers in Ireland are generally interested in and willing to contribute to scientific research.
Full details of the Farmer Moth Monitoring Project and guidelines for managing moths in your area can be found in the most recent December 2022 Project Report here.
