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Designed to Eat: Goats have strong, narrow mouths designed for stripping individual leaves, flowers and chewing branches.
As Goats strip the plants leaves, flowers and branches they reduce the plant's ability to photosynthesize and put the plants into a state of emergency. With a well designed grazing plan, the invasive plants are stressed and their competitive advantage is decreased even to the point of dying. Environmentally friendly: herbicides are the most widely used control method used today and have become the main method depended upon. Given that herbicides have been used for over 70 years the repeated applications are creating a chemical burden in the environment. Goats are the non-chemical method that is able to cover the amount of hectares that herbicides can. 
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Improve soil quality: Goats recycle plant matter and distribute it back to the soil. The manure from the goats adds organic matter, which helps the soil retain water, adds nutrients and minerals and builds back the micro-organism communities.
Less sweat equity: Goats will do the work. Pulling, spraying, clearing excessive vegetation is back breaking and costly labour especially if you're involving equipment. Goats clear the majority of the plant mass, and when managed correctly, will kill the plants. Inherent value and culture: Goats have a way of bringing people back to the land. Invasive plant control is hard work; goats make it easier and more enjoyable. Goats are also part of the the new culture of environmental healing and education. Natural choice: Goats are quiet and gentle on nature. Integrated Pest Management: A long time ago humans discovered that using a combination of control methods was the sustainable and successful approach for controlling pests. Target goat grazing adds a powerful tool that brings back true Integrated Pest Management. |
wetlands
Photo: David Harper
Goats are an excellent choice for treating invasive vegetation around water. In Canada we have laws that prevent spraying herbicides near water sources, for good reason. Studies have shown chemicals cause minerals and nutrients to leach from the soil changing the pH of both soil and water environments and certain chemicals are known to desex frogs. The goats are light enough that they do not damage the delicate riparian communities of plants, insects, reptiles and fish.
Grasslands
Target Grazing Goats provides the advantage of selectively targeting the invasives while leaving the native broad leaf plants and grasses alone. The competitive advantage is given to the native and more desirable vegetation. The goats actually enhance the native forage for wildlife. They are a more natural alternative that is quiet and gentle on the surrounding nature.
TARGET GOAT GRAZING PROVIDES THE INVASIVE PLANT CONTROL INDUSTRY ONE MORE TOOL:
In the tool box today:
Hand-pulling: its effective but is hard labour, expensive and doesn't keep up to the spreading invasives.
Bio-control insects are effective, but they are not fast enough to catch up to the millions of acres of seed heads and bio-mass that's out there.
Herbicide spraying is the most widely and frequently used tool and has become the main control method used in the large scale. After over 70 years of spraying, a non-chemical method that is as effective as herbicides is needed to bring a better balance into the tool box and the invasive plant control industry.
THE NEW TOOL:
Target Grazing with Goats: this method has so many positives its absolutely environmentally exciting! Check out the video on our Home page for all the positive benefits of this new tool.
Hand-pulling: its effective but is hard labour, expensive and doesn't keep up to the spreading invasives.
Bio-control insects are effective, but they are not fast enough to catch up to the millions of acres of seed heads and bio-mass that's out there.
Herbicide spraying is the most widely and frequently used tool and has become the main control method used in the large scale. After over 70 years of spraying, a non-chemical method that is as effective as herbicides is needed to bring a better balance into the tool box and the invasive plant control industry.
THE NEW TOOL:
Target Grazing with Goats: this method has so many positives its absolutely environmentally exciting! Check out the video on our Home page for all the positive benefits of this new tool.
F a q's
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Don't the goats just eat everything?
Goats will TRY everything. And if left in a small area unsupervised, yes they will eat everything to the dirt. TARGET GRAZING is a unique method where the shepherds guide the goats to the targeted vegetation. The herd develops a taste for the invasive plants over time. Goats are very willing once they know what you want and will seek out the invasive plants naturally. They prefer broad leaf vegetation over grasses, and will avoid the native vegetation once they know which plant they are targeting. Don't the goats just spread the seeds in their manure? A well designed goat grazing plan will aim at having the goats on the plants as they are in flower. However, Goats have been eating weeds for 1,000's of years, and their digestive system has developed special traits that break the seeds down. Their molars are very sharp, and they have specialized enzymes in their stomachs that break seed casings down. Because they regurgitate the plant matter, they chew and chew and re-chew it several times before it moves on in their digestive system. Note: There is a small percentage of accidental spread of invasive plant seeds regardless of what ever control method is being used (chemical, hand-pulling, goats, bio-control releases). Invasive plants are here to stay, which is why its called Invasive Plant "Control" and not "Eradication." |
Is herbicide spraying cheaper than target grazing with goats?
No, they are comparable in price. Winter seasons for keeping goats is a higher cost because you can't just store the goats into the chemical shed, but the target grazing industry is working to make the sure the costs are comparable. If land owners (private, municipal, industrial, commercial alike) that share borders were to get together, transportation costs will go down. Should we get rid of chemical spraying all together? It would be nice, but not a reality right now. Few too many goats and way too many weeds!! With the millions of acres infested across Canada and more being opened up with the recreation and forestry industries every year we need all the methods of invasive plant control we have. Target grazing with goats presents the opportunity to bring back a true Integrated Pest Management and offers a non-chemical method that is as effective and efficient. The Target Grazing industry is growing in Canada, with the skills being trained in already two University programs. As it becomes more available we will be able to use less chemicals. |
"Upon the vehicle of the goat, we shall bring in a new era of balance and
feel our true nature's purpose." ~ Caitanya, 2017
feel our true nature's purpose." ~ Caitanya, 2017
For our services please call: Cailey Chase Ph: 250-602-9123 E-mail: caileychase@vahana.ca