Today green solutions to environmental problems are all the rage, and they often work better than more drastic methods. Invasive species control using goats is one fairly recent innovation (except in the deep south, where the goat has been known as the best kudzu control for decades.) Both public and private landowners are turning to these browsing animals for help with imported plants that want to take over their new world.
You know how commercial beekeepers move their hives from blooming mono-crop to blooming mono-crop, to boost the yields by increasing pollination? Well, now goat herders are doing the same mobile service kind of thing. Some people have from 30 to 700 goats and they rent them out to landowners with a problem. Herders travel with their herds, putting up temporary fences where needed and making sure the goal of eradication is reached.
The cost of leasing ground-clearing herds is fairly high, so many clients are public facilities, like parks, landfills, wetlands, or roads. Goats can clear areas that are virtually inaccessible to heavy equipment, and they work cheaper than day laborers. They are useful in fire prevention, too; they eat the underbrush that grows in immature forests, thereby eliminating a fire hazard.
Private landowners may have less ability to pay for leasing a herd. For them, it may make more sense to have a few animals of their own and pen them in problem areas. People who want to do this should know the basics of goat care and be familiar with plants that can cause illness or even death. Animals will generally avoid poisonous plants unless forage is sparse or limited.
People may not realize that some of their favorite plants can be invasive exotics. Queen Anne's Lace and daisies look pretty, as does Dames Rocket. Honeysuckle perfumes the summer air, and multiflora rose makes attractive mounds of sweet-scented flowers. It's when these plants get out of control, like those pretty purple thistles, that problems arise. The imports can crowd out native species, interfere with crops, and encroach on cleared land.
Some of the worst offenders are aquatic plants. Marshes are sensitive areas, and wetlands are very important for wildlife and for watershed protection. Goats aren't much use in standing water, but they will hop from tussock to tussock and quickly reduce the problem to manageable proportions. Native species can be given a chance to recover and re-planting efforts can succeed.
Controlling brush plants like Autumn or Russian olive, touch-me-not ones like poison ivy, or seemingly indestructible things like honeysuckle and kudzu without the use of herbicides is environmentally desirable. Often a herd owner will have a sideline meat production business to help off-set the expense of buying and keeping the animals. Especially in warmer areas with ample rainfall, where a goat can forage year-round, this can work.
A goat will eat almost anything of a weed, vine, or brush nature. They prefer variety, so sometimes they need to be penned in a problem area so they'll eat what needs to be eliminated. They are proving remarkably effective at helping people control overly vigorous plants.
You know how commercial beekeepers move their hives from blooming mono-crop to blooming mono-crop, to boost the yields by increasing pollination? Well, now goat herders are doing the same mobile service kind of thing. Some people have from 30 to 700 goats and they rent them out to landowners with a problem. Herders travel with their herds, putting up temporary fences where needed and making sure the goal of eradication is reached.
The cost of leasing ground-clearing herds is fairly high, so many clients are public facilities, like parks, landfills, wetlands, or roads. Goats can clear areas that are virtually inaccessible to heavy equipment, and they work cheaper than day laborers. They are useful in fire prevention, too; they eat the underbrush that grows in immature forests, thereby eliminating a fire hazard.
Private landowners may have less ability to pay for leasing a herd. For them, it may make more sense to have a few animals of their own and pen them in problem areas. People who want to do this should know the basics of goat care and be familiar with plants that can cause illness or even death. Animals will generally avoid poisonous plants unless forage is sparse or limited.
People may not realize that some of their favorite plants can be invasive exotics. Queen Anne's Lace and daisies look pretty, as does Dames Rocket. Honeysuckle perfumes the summer air, and multiflora rose makes attractive mounds of sweet-scented flowers. It's when these plants get out of control, like those pretty purple thistles, that problems arise. The imports can crowd out native species, interfere with crops, and encroach on cleared land.
Some of the worst offenders are aquatic plants. Marshes are sensitive areas, and wetlands are very important for wildlife and for watershed protection. Goats aren't much use in standing water, but they will hop from tussock to tussock and quickly reduce the problem to manageable proportions. Native species can be given a chance to recover and re-planting efforts can succeed.
Controlling brush plants like Autumn or Russian olive, touch-me-not ones like poison ivy, or seemingly indestructible things like honeysuckle and kudzu without the use of herbicides is environmentally desirable. Often a herd owner will have a sideline meat production business to help off-set the expense of buying and keeping the animals. Especially in warmer areas with ample rainfall, where a goat can forage year-round, this can work.
A goat will eat almost anything of a weed, vine, or brush nature. They prefer variety, so sometimes they need to be penned in a problem area so they'll eat what needs to be eliminated. They are proving remarkably effective at helping people control overly vigorous plants.
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Find an overview of the benefits of invasive species control using goats and more info about a reliable goat breeder at http://browsinggreengoats.com today.
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