Want to clear weeds without using chemicals or machines? Try using goats
RENVILLE, Minn. -- Eliminating weeds without the use of chemicals or manpower may sound too good to be true, but on a farm near the town of Renville, Garrett Hovland doesn't need a chainsaw or a tractor. He clears out this grove with goats.
"So we got a few goats and started with that. And as you can hear in the background, we've got a few more now," said Hovland.
Hovland is part of Goats on the Go. It's possible you've seen the animals eating buckthorn and weeds around solar panels in the Twin Cities. It's a concept Hovland was pretty sure would work in other parts of the state too.
"They might also not want the spray, so goats are also a good option for not spraying chemicals onto whatever they are trying to kill," said Hovland.
The goats work fast. Forty of them can clear out an acre in 4 to 5 days. That's because they are more like browsers than grazers.
"They would rather eat up into the trees," said Hovland. "They are more like deer."
If someone asks for their services, Hovland and his family round up the herd in a trailer and bring them to the site. They put up an electric fence to keep the goats in and predators out. It's like a traveling band with a big appetite. There's almost nothing they won't eat.
"Burning weed, sometimes they don't eat as much, but sometimes they do." Hovland said.
Hovland's wife, Hollie, wasn't so sure about the idea at first, but now spends most of her summer days chasing after four kids and 75 goats. The entire family gets in on the act.
"It was just another way to use what we have for another purpose, of what they were created for. I just thought, yeah, let's give it a try," Hollie Hovland said.
It's safe to say that goats in a grove are just as happy as pigs in mud.
"We didn't know what to expect. We just started this summer. But it's been going really well and we've enjoyed doing it as a family," Garrett Hovland said.
Goats on the Go actually began in Ames, Iowa. Garrett Hovland said goats have another advantage over humans: they can navigate steep terrain when clearing land.