Green solutions to environmental problems just make sense. The expanding practice of invasive species control using goats is a praiseworthy answer to a serious problem. Farmers have known for years that these voracious browsers can clean up brush and weeds, but now public and private landowners are using them all over.
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.
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 not be able to afford to lease a herd, but they can own their own. Penning goats in an area to be cleared is relatively simple. The animals don't need much more than the forage they're clearing and they can be sold to meat producers once the project is finished. Those without goat raising experience should learn about basic care and read up on plants that might be poisonous to livestock.
Many invasive species are not that troublesome. Queen Anne's Lace and Ox-eye Daisies are pretty in fallow fields, and Dame's Rocket is eye-catching when it blooms on roadside banks. Honeysuckle and multiflora rose perfume the summer air. It's when these plants begin to crowd out native species or take over the countryside that people begin to think enough is enough.
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.
Autumn or Russian olive, poison ivy, kudzu, and many more plants are like candy to a goat. Getting rid of these pesky plants without herbicides is a win for the planet. Goats can grow to market size on this kind of forage, although they may need finishing on hay. In temperate regions where the animals can forage year-round, combining clearing with meat production works.
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.
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 not be able to afford to lease a herd, but they can own their own. Penning goats in an area to be cleared is relatively simple. The animals don't need much more than the forage they're clearing and they can be sold to meat producers once the project is finished. Those without goat raising experience should learn about basic care and read up on plants that might be poisonous to livestock.
Many invasive species are not that troublesome. Queen Anne's Lace and Ox-eye Daisies are pretty in fallow fields, and Dame's Rocket is eye-catching when it blooms on roadside banks. Honeysuckle and multiflora rose perfume the summer air. It's when these plants begin to crowd out native species or take over the countryside that people begin to think enough is enough.
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.
Autumn or Russian olive, poison ivy, kudzu, and many more plants are like candy to a goat. Getting rid of these pesky plants without herbicides is a win for the planet. Goats can grow to market size on this kind of forage, although they may need finishing on hay. In temperate regions where the animals can forage year-round, combining clearing with meat production works.
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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