Goats and Sheep Battle Invasive Plants

Blake Aued in the Flagpole, colorbearer of Athens, Georgia, tells us that the Athens-Clarke County Commission approved on June 3, 2014 a new law that will allow people inside the city limits to rent goats and sheep to help get rid of invasive plants on their property.

Photo by
Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service,
Bugwood.org

Called prescribed grazing, people in Athens will be able to rent the animals for up to 30 days to help rid their property of invasive plants. So which should you choose, a sheep or a goat?

Photo by
Whitney Cranshaw, Bugwood.org

As you can see from the images above, goats prefer to browse on woody plants like shrubs, vines and trees. Sheep generally prefer to graze on grasses and other herbaceous plants like clovers.

More information on prescribed grazing:

•  Managing vegetation with goats, Cornell University
• Tips on grazing for invasive plant control, Invasive Plants in Southern California
• PRESCRIBED GRAZING IN PRACTICE, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
• Goats and sheep are great for clearing out unwanted brush, Georgia FACES
• Conservation Grazing for Land Stewardship, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• Atlanta plans to use goats and sheep to eat invasive plants, SaportaReport