This is not new news in terms of the utility of goats, but it is good
news in terms of creating an economic model for goat husbandry.
In order to properly exploit pasture land, a goat herd needs to be
big enough to justify a shepherd and that large herd needs access to
ample pasture land. Here we have a delightful case in which
government needs match the needs of a herd along with a diverted cash
component to underwrite the process.
What it needs now is a little sponsorship and perhaps long term
contracts for herds. This gives the surety needed for the stock-men
to go at it.
Plenty of crops have a weed problem that could be handled in this way
also. What is needed again is accepted standards and herd
availability. My own experiences with raspberries tells me that
industry may well be prospective if one can time it so they do not
eat the green canes.
The other animals that are valuable are geese and ducks. Again all
this is long known and what has been missing is a thought out
business model that integrates the needs of the community. At least
it is starting.
Farmer Hopes to
Ignite Goat-Weeding Industry in Canada
Goats making short
work of noxious weeds in BC’s Peace Country
By Justina Reichel
Epoch Times Staff June 6, 2012
Goats devour coastal
chaparral that can potentially fuel brush fire and destroy homes in
Laguna Beach, Calif. Goats provide an effective and environmentally
friendly way of combating invasive weeds, says an Alberta farmer.
(David McNew/Newsmakers)
A Canadian goat farmer
is using an innovative and cost-effective way to fight invasive
weeds, which he hopes will be widely adopted across the country.
Conrad Lindblom of
Beaverlodge, Alberta, boasts Canada’s only commercial “prescribed
goat-grazing” business, which utilizes goats’ formidable
appetites to strategically combat weeds.
This week he is in
B.C.’s Peace Country with 600 of his goats, along with his wife and
five dogs, to tackle an infestation of Dalmatian toadflax, a highly
invasive weed that has taken hold along the hillside of the Peace
River.
Until people
understand how it works they’re hesitant to try it. But once they
try it, they realize how well it works.
Conrad Lindblom,
goat farmer
Linblom was hired by
the Peace River Regional District after goat grazing became the only
option left to remove the toadflax and prevent it from encroaching on
surrounding agricultural crops.
“It’s close to a
residential area, so they can’t use their helicopter to spray
[chemicals]. And also it’s such a steep hillside that they can’t
get people to spray by hand. So that’s how come they contacted us,”
he says.
“Now they realize
that there’s other areas that the goats would do well at too,
because we can compete with the cost of spraying and whatnot with our
goats—they will do as good or better job.”
Lindblom, who has
1,000 goats and has been in the business for 12 years, says there are
a number of benefits to goat grazing. Since goats have a preference
for weeds, they will eat the pesky plants before going for grass and
other vegetation.
The goats are moved
from place to place until the all the unwanted weeds in a given area
have been gobbled up. This is his second stint in the Peace River
area with his goats.
“We’re going to
graze it while it’s in blossom and it will stress the plant out if
we keep grazing it down so it can’t go to seed. And by doing that
about three years in a row we can kind of eliminate the toadflax,”
he says.
\
Goats act as
sustainable weed killers, Lindblom notes—starting with their
efficient digestion.
“Their digestive
system is such that if they eat a plant that has gone to seed they
will digest the seeds so the seeds won’t grow when they pass
through them.”
In addition, their
droppings act as fertilizer for other plants, and goat grazing is 100
percent chemical-free, making the method environmentally friendly.
They can also eat plants that are toxic to other animals.
Goats Extremely
Versatile
Although prescribed
goat grazing is becoming more common in the U.S., it is almost
non-existent in Canada. Lindblom says this is because goats haven’t
traditionally been part of our culture and there is a lack of
awareness about their benefits.
“It’s hard to get
old cattle ranchers to switch to goats,” he says, adding that goats
could be easily introduced on Canadian farms and ranches. He should
know—he was a cattle rancher before going into the goat grazing
business.
“It would be nice if
the agriculture industry—or the government, the Department of
Agriculture—would help people try and get something like this
going, because it is such a good idea.”
He says goats are also
extremely versatile because in addition to grazing, their meat,
hides, and milk are also popular commodities. The vast majority of
goat meat is currently imported to Canada from Australia and New
Zealand.
“The goat meat
industry is very strong. There’s a high demand for goat meat, and
so it’s very helpful for the agricultural industry,” he says.
“For a small family
farm with 400 or 500 goats, they can make a good income off the meat,
plus off of the grazing.”
Lindblom says he would
be willing to mentor anyone who wants to get into the industry
because he sees so many benefits. He is nearly booked for the summer
by various municipal governments and forestry companies in B.C. and
Alberta, to the point that he has been turning down small jobs. It
took a while to get people to understand what [the goats] could do.
But now I’ve been getting quite a few phone calls,” he says.
“Until people
understand how it works they’re hesitant to try it. But once they
try it, they realize how well it works. … It just has to get the
education out there, that’s all, because nobody’s ever thought of
it before.”
While at camp in the
Peace, Lindholm starts his day by herding the goats on horseback with
the help of the dogs, then monitors the goats’ progress throughout
the day to ensure they are eating in the right areas, moving them
around as they clear the weeds. He’s back at camp by suppertime and
sometimes he can even sneak in some fishing in the evening.
“It’s pretty nice
when you get up in northern B.C., up in the mountains, and the
fishing is just fantastic,” he says. “I have no trouble hiring
people for the summer, because it’s just a great way to spend the
summer.”
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