New nest box scheme: Barn owls 'pay their keep' by eating rodents

Farmers get payments for helping the barn owl — and may no longer need to use poison to control rats and mice on farms

A measure to improve Barn Owl conservation, designed by BirdWatch Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is now available to farmers in the new Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). Picture: Larry Cummins

The barn owl is often described as the ‘farmer’s friend’ for the simple reason that it preys on rats and mice which can be a pest in farmyards. It’s only fair then that the farmer should now become the barn owl’s friend.

The species has been declining for several decades and is on the red list of birds which are of serious conservation concern. So, a new, rural environment scheme drawn up by BirdWatch and the Department of Agriculture, under which farmers will receive payments for helping the barn owl, is welcomed.