Goats the go-to animal for weed reduction

Who doesn't love a good-looking goat? I certainly do, and my wife ... if we were back in the country, she would have an entire herd.

Whether you're fond of these four-legged creatures or not, they are quite the rage for controlling unwanted vegetation with minimal to no negative impact on the environment.

There are one or two companies in the Pacific Northwest that use goats for weed control. GOAT Power, featuring master shepherdess Briana Murphy, is the one I'm familiar with. Murphy gave a superb presentation to my seminar series class this past spring, so I was especially excited to hear that her goats would be working on an Oregon State University site. Just a block from my office on the east side of our Crop Science Building, 30 goats eagerly were devouring a massive hummock covered in English ivy. This would take a couple of days for 30 goats. Why bother at $10 per goat per day? Surely one pesticide applicator with a backpack sprayer could do it for a couple of hundred dollars?

Well, there are several advantages to using goats, not least of which they work 12 hours per day, do not need to take special lunch or potty breaks and never complain about the working conditions. Really though, if you had say a half acre of old-growth blackberries 14 feet tall covering who knows what, goats are the answer. They won't eat the canes but will strip all of the foliage and underbrush revealing the pile of irrigation pipe you forgot about, Grandpa's tractor or all the hornet's nests. You then could move in and mechanically finish the job in one quarter the time. If you have an organic orchard or vineyard, it really is the way to go. Not to mention they are such crowd pleasers (think petting zoo without petting).

Back to the ivy at OSU; the goats are eating a plant you would typically have to haul off in a dumpster. This reduces fuel and labor costs and in general the carbon footprint. For more information, check out MowingWithGoats.com.

Al Shay is a consulting horticulturist and instructor at OSU. Contact baxtersnoo@yahoo.com.