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.
Commercial beekeepers lease their hives to growers who need pollinators for their crops. When one crop has finished flowering, the bees are moved to another area. In the same way, goat herders take their herds where the weeds are. The herders put up temporary fencing when needed. Some of these entrepreneurs live like nomads, staying with their goats while they're on the road.
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.
A private landowner may not have the budget for this. The answer might be to acquire a herd and use them to clear problem areas. Once the job is done, the animals can be sold to others with the same sort of problem. Anyone getting livestock should know about basic care and also be aware of plants that can harm grazing animals.
Many of our favorite plants are actually imported and can be invasive. Queen Anne's Lace and daisies are pretty in a field, and Dame's Rocket can be spectacular along a roadside. The scent of honeysuckle and multiflora rose on a summer's night is heavenly. However, many a gardener knows to nip the first honeysuckle vine in the bud and that that pretty flowering hedge rose can take over a neglected area faster than you'd think.
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.
If you need to get rid of vines, brush, or weeds, remember that a goat prefers these to grass. You may need to confine the herd to the problem area, since a goat likes variety and will stray if allowed. They are very, very good at controlling even the most vigorous plants that are in your way.
Commercial beekeepers lease their hives to growers who need pollinators for their crops. When one crop has finished flowering, the bees are moved to another area. In the same way, goat herders take their herds where the weeds are. The herders put up temporary fencing when needed. Some of these entrepreneurs live like nomads, staying with their goats while they're on the road.
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.
A private landowner may not have the budget for this. The answer might be to acquire a herd and use them to clear problem areas. Once the job is done, the animals can be sold to others with the same sort of problem. Anyone getting livestock should know about basic care and also be aware of plants that can harm grazing animals.
Many of our favorite plants are actually imported and can be invasive. Queen Anne's Lace and daisies are pretty in a field, and Dame's Rocket can be spectacular along a roadside. The scent of honeysuckle and multiflora rose on a summer's night is heavenly. However, many a gardener knows to nip the first honeysuckle vine in the bud and that that pretty flowering hedge rose can take over a neglected area faster than you'd think.
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.
If you need to get rid of vines, brush, or weeds, remember that a goat prefers these to grass. You may need to confine the herd to the problem area, since a goat likes variety and will stray if allowed. They are very, very good at controlling even the most vigorous plants that are in your way.
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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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