Our farm operates Goats On The Go® of Northern New Mexico, which offers environmentally-friendly vegetation management solutions through the use of goat grazing.
This service involves deploying a herd of trained goats to graze on targeted areas for brush control, weed management, fire mitigation, and land restoration.
Goats are selective browsers, and actually prefer invasive weeds and shrubs over most native plants and grasses. They can easily climb small trees and eat all the leaves, or eat the leaves off seedlings, and they can reach craggy areas that crews with chainsaws cannot.
The goats’ natural browsing behavior coupled with our strategic way of deploying them results in targeted vegetation management, creating space for native plants to thrive while controlling unwanted species and excessive vegetation that would otherwise be fuel for wildfires.
Our goat grazing service offers an environmentally friendly solution to control unwanted vegetation.
By working with the natural grazing behavior of goats, who have an inherent preference for weeds and brush, we help limit heavy machinery and herbicide use, which reduces CO2 emissions into the air and the release of harmful chemicals into the soil.
Goats are efficient at this task, nimbly accessing land that is challenging for people and machinery.
Increasingly common and catastrophic wildfires in the U.S. are fueled by excess vegetation, on a scale such that manual and mechanical removal alone is not practical.
Goat grazing plays a positive role in wildfire prevention. It helps reduce fuel biomass and shrub encroachment. The herd essentially consumes all of the main components of the lower layer of the fuel ladder.
Grazing also enjoys a better public perception in New Mexico than cutting and spraying or prescribed burning.
Goats help restore soil quality because their cloven hooves help break up compacted ground.
Additionally, goats actually prefer invasive plants and shrubs over most native plants and grasses. North America is in an uphill battle with invasive plants, but goat grazing creates new growing space and reduces shading, allowing native plant species to thrive.
Last, goats also leave behind fertilizer, promoting the enrichment of the soil and the growth of desirable vegetation.
Goat grazing helps people with allergies and sensitivities suffer less, and also remove poisonous plants. They love to eat ragweed and chamisa, for example, plants that many New Mexicans find agitating.
Goats are happy to eat poison ivy and are not affected by its poisonous compounds. They even love to eat wild roses and berry bushes, despite the sharp thorns!
Send us details about your project to receive a ballpark estimate, or click the FAQ link to read about how it works first