But for farmer Mary Bowen, who operates Browsing Green Goats in Sunderland, it’s commonplace. She manages a working herd of about 50 goats that serve as a highly effective and eco-friendly landscaping crew. “I have always believed in the power of nature’s mechanisms to heal and revive itself,” she says.
Mary’s goats have changed the approach to land management for many organizations because they possess incredibly selective browsing habits. Goats, which eat 2 to 4% of their body weight daily, can easily target aggressive invasive plant species while giving native plants the breathing room they need to bounce back. Some of the most stubborn and despised vegetation is just a tasty lunch to a grazing goat. They happily chew their way through thick patches of invasive vegetation, like Kudzu, wild wisteria, multi-flora rose, mile-a-minute and Phragmites.
The daily reality of clearing land often involves fighting the geography itself. Goats have a massive advantage here. They can navigate steep slopes, hills, gullies and entirely rough terrain without slipping or sinking into the mud. “You can’t use machinery where goats can go. If you used herbicides, you would have to use a lot,” Mary says.
Landscaping with livestock is a smart biological strategy. “Our goats and sheep eat the unwanted vegetation as the first tool in the toolbox, so you can figure out the next step,” she says.
Moving a herd of 50 goats to a new job site requires strict boundaries and careful planning. Mary relies heavily on temporary electric fencing. It keeps her animals safe inside the perimeter so that nothing on the outside gets in to harm them.
Working out in public spaces does bring some interesting human interactions. “The challenge is keeping people from thinking that a temporary electric fence is safe to touch and want to scream at me when it hurts,” Mary laughs.
Incorporating grazing animals into land management practices can help enhance natural plant and wildlife balance within local ecosystems. “It makes sense to use goats in a biodiverse way to clean up the environment instead of using chemicals,” she says.
Mary’s herd of goats shows that sometimes a different solution can also be the most effective. After all, who needs a mower when you’ve got a team of four-legged eco-warriors ready to tackle the toughest terrain?
Hungry for more? Read about goat soap. Learn more about controlling vegetation.