Gray's Creek Ranch

Noxious Weed Abatement and Fire Control Using Goats

Recently we have introduced a new service with our goats.  We have joined the "Green" movement with the use of goats to control noxious weeds provide no-burn areas by grazing the targeted areas.

Goats eat all poisonous plants, which due to their saliva and digestive system, makes it so these plants do not seem to bother them.  Goats will snap off all the flower heads as soon as they walk through the pasture.  The leaves are next leaving a bare stock.  There is no flower so it cannot go to seed and the stock is bare of leaves eliminating a way to photosynthesize to build a root system.  The way in which a goat eats the plant fools the plant into thinking it is okay and does not go into shock and try to overproduce.  The goats also leave the area free of interference from the plant so the sunshine can hit the ground and allow the desired plants to grow.  The goat is a natural environmental health plus.

The cost of utilizing goats for weed control is nominal to what the weeds can accomplish if left alone. Choking out native plants and providing a tender-box for fire.

Follow this link below to find out more information on noxious weeds.

http://www.extension.uidaho.edu/resources2.asp?title=CROP PRODUCTION&category1=Pests and Pesticides&category2=Weeds&color=91A967&font=4B5F27

More Information:

www.beyondpesticides.org/weeds/publications/Goat_weed_management.pdf -