Microbats could be the wine industry's ticket to pest control, experts say

It comes as the winemaker has set himself a 10-year goal to manage nature back into his business.

Fowles Wine owner Matt Fowles said he discovered the researchers' work about 18 months ago, when he read an article online about microbats' potential for pest control on cotton farms.

He has since been taking part in a six-month study on his property to investigate whether the microbats were consuming his vineyard pests at the same rate as on the cotton farms.

Mr Fowles manages about 81 hectares of vines.

"Every day, the bats can consume 30-100 per cent of their body mass," Mr Fowles said.

"A colony of 100 bats, weighing 10 grams each, could remove up to one kilo of insects every night."

He said he decided to start the winery business 20 years ago - leaving the legal industry - and discovered there was a bat population on the farm about 15 years ago.

"I feel like the story is unfolding now, rather than over the past 20 years," he said.

"We were working in professional CBD Melbourne, and it was a pretty radical change to come out here and do this," he said.

"It was confronting, there are those big questions that come along very quickly."

He said he decided to "farm in nature's image".

Several of his methods included being light on sprays, burning oak staves at home, recycling at the cellar door, using wild yeast, recirculating water, reintroducing cork, using recyclable label stock and more.

"We try and manage nature out on our farms, but I want to figure out how to manage nature back into farming," he said.

Mr Fowles said there were 16 insect-eating bat species in Victoria, but people were unaware of the numbers currently in vineyards.

"What we do know is that where the bats populate and can echolocate is where the vines and fruit thrive most," he said.

University of New England researchers Heidi Kolkert and Zenon Czenze installed sound equipment on Mr Fowles' farm to understand the species feeding habits and role on the surrounding ecosystem.

Dr Czenze said the first year of the Bats and Wine initiative suggested bats played a crucial role in controlling pests on NSW vineyards.

"This current project with Fowles represents a leap forward - the most comprehensive study yet - aimed at unravelling bat diversity and their ecosystem contributions within vineyards," he said.

The experts also did a fauna survey to better understand the region, and partnered with the Euroa Arboretum to build insectariums.

Mr Fowles said the insectariums would help the arboretum to collect seed and regenerate native plant life on the property, and provide shelter for birds.

"I think there's a lifetime of learning for a love of environment," he said.

"We are literally inviting insects into our vineyard, which is the very different to traditional practices for growing vines," he said.

Mr Fowles also started introducing beehives to help increase production, and plant several cover crop species.

He said once they understood the importance of the bats - with results expected in the coming days - he would investigate how to help boost populations on-farm.

"At the end of the day, nature always wins, so why fight against it when you can work with it?," he said.

"I think chaos is beautiful."