| This profile is part of "Sustainable Agriculture... Continuing to Grow", a publication developed to present some of the excellent sustainable agriculture research and education work done by universities, nonprofit organizations and other institutions in the Western Region over the past twelve years. Additional profiles and abstracts will be posted weekly, with links provided in the Table of Contents. |
Livestock for Vegetation Management
An Peischel, PhD
Goats Unlimited started enhancing land productivity 14 years ago on the Hawaiian Islands in old, abandoned sugar cane plantations with meat goats. In California, we are pursuing land cleaning, fire breaking, fuel load reduction and rejuvenation of lands - from agricultural farmland/rangeland and orchards to timber producing forests.
Before starting a land cleaning project with the goats, a final landscape goal is established by the individual(s) owning the lands. The management goals should encompass all systems - ecology, plant physiology, hydrology, climatology, forestry, soils, economics, animal science, sociology - with the success of the project centering around flexibility of management plans and the ability to re-plan. Communication with the owner throughout is served by an "open door" policy.
We then do a complete vegetative survey analysis and obtain soil profile data. It is important to obtain data on plant species growing in a specific area, and to understand their life cycles, specifically the individual species you are trying to eradicate or encourage. Changes in plant communities take time; it is an ecological process. 1-3 years is a normal time frame to begin to see change, whereas 7-10 years may be needed for complete eradication and change of regression plant communities into succession plant communities.
The reason we can plan, re-plan and work in a variety of landscapes is the availability of portable polywire electric fence and our ability to be creative with its construction. We use all solar-powered electric energizers and raise the goats to respect the fences. Our Great Pyrenean Mountain guardian dogs also enable flexibility in our management. We trust our dogs completely.
The goat breed we use is the Kiko meat goat from the South Island of New Zealand. Genetic heritability of foraging is important. The Kiko was raised under varying climatic conditions and on rugged terrain. The main selection characteristics for the breed are survival in rugged hill country and growth rate of kids under poor nutritional conditions.
From the brush, forest or rangeland/pastureland, our meat goats go in several different directions. Young bucks are grown out in the forest and are selected as possible herd sires at three years of age. The females are selected for return to the breeding herd as yearlings after land cleaning yellow star thistle/blackberry vegetation and organic olive orchards. They are also used in fuel load reduction and fuel discontinuity projects with the wethers. The wethers go into our ethnic meat market outlets, both as live animals and restaurant carcass sales.
Herbicide and pesticide usage can be virtually eliminated with goat grazing, and goat meat is in high demand. There is no published rate/acre, rate/head, or rate/job for such vegetation control management. Each contract is individually negotiated and written. All factors that go into a profit model are analyzed and gross margin, a measure of profitability, calculated. Know the efficiency of your management, know the costs incurred when other modes of vegetation removal are used, and evaluate the environmental benefits. Project success lies in planning, re-planning, flexibility and creativity.
An Peischel, PhD
Goats Unlimited
PO Box 29
Rackerby, CA 95972
Tel: (530) 679-1420
http://home.inreach.com/kiko/
The work to create this publication was sponsored by the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (Western SARE) program. Western SARE is an effort of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since 1988 through federal fiscal 2000, the U.S. Congress has allocated more than $114.6 million to the federal SARE effort; Western SARE has received $26 million. The Western region includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and the Island Protectorates of American Samoa, Guam, Micronesia and the Northern Mariana Islands.