Goats are an alternative method of Noxious Weed Control that is Environmentally friendly and Rancher friendly.
Goats provide non-toxic noxious weed control, simultaneously reducing tinder for fires and building soil nutrients through fertilization. Pesticides don"t.
Reasons to Reduce Fire Fuel Load with Goats. Goats:
Goats minimize fire danger and sequester more carbonGoats are a cost-efffective way to reduce fire fuels with a comparably small footprintTargeted goat grazing significantly reduced undesired plants and increase plant species richnessGoats reduce fuel loads over large acreagesGoats reduce fire fuel ladders over large and steep, rocky, remote, or rugged landscapes inaccessible for equipment or hand crewsGoat grazing improves the soil by enriching microbial communitiesGoat eat trees, brush, and weeds including poison oak, Cheatgrass biomass and cover, and invasive honeysucklePrescribed goat grazing is an ecologically and economically sustainable management toolGoat grazing increases soil carbon sequestration, water infiltration and water storage, above and below ground biodiversity and resiliency to climate changeReasons to Manage Weeds with Goats. Goats:
Goats eliminate the use of harmful herbicides and pesticidesGoats reduce your fossil fuel consumptionGoats are bio-control agents used to control weedsGoats eat noxious plants like Hemlock, Poison Oak, Pampas Grass, Blackberry Bushes, Blooming Yellow Star Thistle, and Mustard speciesGoats slow down or prevent forest fires by eating the dry stuff before the fire season strikesGoats browse year-round and are an important part of grazing land managementGoats do not compete with cattle for grass - they are browsers, whose diet consists of about 70% non-grassy speciesGoat grazing makes good cattle pastures and cattle grazing makes good goat pasturesGoat hooves till and aerate the soil and trample in their own fertilizerGoats eat 3% of their body weight/day of dry matter (dry matter is like a bale of hay, whereas lush green food is mostly water)
