<h2 class = 'uawtitle'>Achieving Invasive Species Control Using Goats</h2><br />
<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>by Sarah Cox</div><br /><br />
<div class='uawarticle'>There's continuing interest in green ways to handle environmental problems. Achieving <a href="http://browsinggreengoats.com/">invasive species control using goats</a> is one method that is growing in popularity. These browsing animals have been used in southern states for decades to keep kudzu vines (excellent livestock feed, which is why it was introduced) from overwhelming the landscape.<br />
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Commercial beekeepers lease their hives to growers who need pollinators for their crops. When one crop has finished flowering, the bees are moved to another area. In the same way, goat herders take their herds where the weeds are. The herders put up temporary fencing when needed. Some of these entrepreneurs live like nomads, staying with their goats while they're on the road.<br />
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The cost of leasing ground-clearing herds is fairly high, so many clients are public facilities, like parks, landfills, wetlands, or roads. Goats can clear areas that are virtually inaccessible to heavy equipment, and they work cheaper than day laborers. They are useful in fire prevention, too; they eat the underbrush that grows in immature forests, thereby eliminating a fire hazard.<br />
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A private landowner may not have the budget for this. The answer might be to acquire a herd and use them to clear problem areas. Once the job is done, the animals can be sold to others with the same sort of problem. Anyone getting livestock should know about basic care and also be aware of plants that can harm grazing animals.<br />
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Many invasive species are not that troublesome. Queen Anne's Lace and Ox-eye Daisies are pretty in fallow fields, and Dame's Rocket is eye-catching when it blooms on roadside banks. Honeysuckle and multiflora rose perfume the summer air. It's when these plants begin to crowd out native species or take over the countryside that people begin to think enough is enough.<br />
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Goats are valuable for reclaiming marshes. In these fragile ecosystems, heavy equipment is just not feasible. Fast-growing water plants can take over, destroying the balance that allows native plants and wildlife to flourish. The animals don't like to wade, but they will happily find high ground and eat everything they can reach. Once they've removed most of the invaders, people can replant native vegetation or allow it to come back without overwhelming competition.<br />
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Goats love to browse on tree leaves and think honeysuckle and kudzu are ambrosia. They do a great job on poison ivy, a plant few want to clear by hand. A goat can live on this kind of nuisance plants, although those being prepared for the meat market might need a few months on alfalfa hay before the sale. In warmer areas where the goat can forage year round, it's easier to turn a profit.<br />
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If you need to get rid of vines, brush, or weeds, remember that a goat prefers these to grass. You may need to confine the herd to the problem area, since a goat likes variety and will stray if allowed. They are very, very good at controlling even the most vigorous plants that are in your way.<br />
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<div class='uawlinks'>Find an overview of the benefits of <a href="http://browsinggreengoats.com">invasive species control using goats</a> and more info about a reliable goat breeder at http://browsinggreengoats.com today.</div><br />
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