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.
In the same way that commercial beekeepers move their busy pollinators from field to field, goat herders are beginning to offer a traveling clearing service. Some herders have small bands of several dozen animals, while others may have 500 or more. Some of these entrepreneurs live with their flock, like nomads of the deserts. They put up temporary fencing as part of the clearing service.
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.
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.
In the same way that commercial beekeepers move their busy pollinators from field to field, goat herders are beginning to offer a traveling clearing service. Some herders have small bands of several dozen animals, while others may have 500 or more. Some of these entrepreneurs live with their flock, like nomads of the deserts. They put up temporary fencing as part of the clearing service.
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.
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.
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