There's continuing interest in green ways to handle environmental problems. Achieving invasive species control using goats is one method that is growing in popularity. These browsing animals have been used in southern states for decades to keep kudzu vines (excellent livestock feed, which is why it was introduced) from overwhelming the landscape.
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.
Public enterprises, like road maintenance departments, parks, and landfills, have the budgets to undertake the expense of renting these voracious animals. Areas where underbrush is growing too fast in woodlands, causing a fire hazard, can benefit from the herds, too. The goat does less damage than a bulldozer and is more easily controlled than a burn.
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.
Goats love to browse on tree leaves and think honeysuckle and kudzu are ambrosia. They do a great job on poison ivy, a plant few want to clear by hand. A goat can live on this kind of nuisance plants, although those being prepared for the meat market might need a few months on alfalfa hay before the sale. In warmer areas where the goat can forage year round, it's easier to turn a profit.
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.
Public enterprises, like road maintenance departments, parks, and landfills, have the budgets to undertake the expense of renting these voracious animals. Areas where underbrush is growing too fast in woodlands, causing a fire hazard, can benefit from the herds, too. The goat does less damage than a bulldozer and is more easily controlled than a burn.
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.
Goats love to browse on tree leaves and think honeysuckle and kudzu are ambrosia. They do a great job on poison ivy, a plant few want to clear by hand. A goat can live on this kind of nuisance plants, although those being prepared for the meat market might need a few months on alfalfa hay before the sale. In warmer areas where the goat can forage year round, it's easier to turn a profit.
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.
