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Weed control using goats
Weeds in pasture greatly reduce the short and long term profitability of the pasture. The traditional methods of weed control in pastures are cultural, biological, chemical, mechanical or grazing. Grazing is particularly important and the unique grazing habits of goats make them useful as a weed control tool.
Using goats to control weeds can assist traditional control methods in providing efficient, sustainable pasture management when conducted according to best practice.
Goats help control weeds by:
•preferentially grazing the weed and so placing it at a disadvantage •preventing the weed from flowering and dispersing seed
•ringbarking or structurally weakening some shrub species
A guide to using goats for weed control pastures ...........
Taken from M.L.A leaflet.Livestock: September 2000.........
Many cattle producers spend a large amount of money each year to control undesired plants (weeds and brush). Producers incur the primary cost by purchasing herbicides and hiring equipment and operators to clear brush and reclaim lands that have become unable to support cattle at an acceptable production level. In order for today's producers to have a chance at making an almighty dollar, every acre of ground capable of being productive must be used. Enter goats.
Goats possess a unique characteristic that separates them from almost all other types of livestock. They would rather eat brush and weeds than grass because they are browsers, whereas cattle are grazers. Browse makes up approximately 60 percent of a goat's diet but only about 10 to 15 percent of a cow's.
My family has a goatherd. I remember the day we first turned 200 goats out into a 30-acre "pasture" that was 25 percent impenetrable because of thick scrub oak and briars. The remaining 75 percent was overgrazed and had an alarming amount of weeds (forbs). The goats hit that wall of brush at a dead run and stripped every leaf off of every stem and branch. It amazed me. We had estimated that it would take three months for the herd to eat all of the brush, briars, and weeds. Six weeks later, those 30 acres looked like a golf course with a few sticks where the short brush used to be, and not a weed in sight. The goats had made a browse line in the taller brush, too (figure 1). It gets better. During the winter the goats wouldn't eat the hay we put out until they had cleaned up every dead leaf that had fallen off the trees. Simply amazing.
Figure 1. Browse line made by goats. The browse line is beneficial because one can actually see through the lower portion of the brush and find the goats. It also allows sunlight to penetrate, which permits grass to grow under the brush.
Another advantage of goats is that, unlike a bulldozer, they control brush and weeds without disturbing the existing grass and soil. They also do not leave synthetic chemicals that could run off into lakes and streams or be ingested by a cow or other animal. These characteristics make goats ideal candidates for multispecific-many species-rotational grazing. The goats can be rotated in to eliminate most of the undesirable vegetation (from a cow's perspective), and then the cows can come behind them to graze the grass without having to pick through as many weeds.
Goats have excellent reproductive ability. If goats are given the opportunity to breed and reproduce, they typically produce an average of two kids per doe yearly. The producer can keep the big ones to eat brush and weeds, sell the little ones to pay for the big ones, and eventually control the brush at minimal cost, no cost, or possibly even a little profit......
by Brian Bull
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