Oregon gives up on goats for invasive weed control

an article in the BBC News today, says that goats are just too costly and too smelly to be used for weed control.

Why do you think this is, that they believe humans can do a better job? The goats were used for 6 weeks, and then in November. If these were male goats, I can totally understand why they would be considered smelly during rutting. The other complaint is that the goats fertilize the area too much.

To me I think this could work, perhaps it was just implemented wrong. What could be done differently to make goats useful and acceptable for invasive species control?

The linked article is short on facts, the few reasons that were mentioned; five times the cost of human landscapers, eating native vegetation, and smell, really can't be argued without additional information.
Obviously, some of this is undoubtedly true, goats won't selectively browse only non-native species and, of course, they will leave behind a "fertilized area", which might well have a "barnyard aroma". The cost is questionable, but who knows how that was determined?

Steve Oh wrote:The linked article is short on facts, the few reasons that were mentioned; five times the cost of human landscapers, eating native vegetation, and smell, really can't be argued without additional information.

I agree, there isn't enough information. Perhaps we could speculate on possible reasons these might be issues, and investigate solutions.

Cost for example - I just don't see goats being that expensive. They are getting free food from the deal. If they are trained to mob grase then the manpower to use them wont be high. so where is all the expense coming from?

Goats, when managed correctly, had very little smell... Except Billy goats during the mating season. What smell they do have dissipates quickly. So what's causing the smell?

Anyone here use goats for invasive species control, of offer goat land clearing service? What are your thoughts on why this didn't work?

The thing about goats is, they seem to know what you want eaten and avoid that! Invasive species are less palatable then what goats enjoy a lot of times too, so they may have experienced that too.

We don't pasture our goats where the multiflora rose is (because it grows far from the house and in brushy areas that would be hard to fence), but we do feed our goats the multiflora rose bushes that we whack out of the hayfields; it helps keep them worm-free, and I feel a bit less peevish about rose removal if I know it can be used for something. They seem quite eager to eat it.

if the goats are smelling they must be doing a lot wrong. buck goats stink through the year and are especially odor-iffic during breeding. other than that they have an animal smell but its not 'stink'. and with the does you pretty much have to put your nose in their fur to smell that.

the article says people were complaining. that's probably the big push. people being whiney big babies who cant be bothered to look at the pros and cons of things and don't care.

My 3 sheep do such a good job that I sold my lawnmower. No joke. I was marveling at my lawn last week. I could see patches of dark green mixed with light green. I need to look closer to see if it's the poo or pee that darkened it up.

Either way, start adding up the benefits. No oil, gas, labor. No fertilizer added. I do nothing.

When I had horses I spent a lot of time behind them pulling weeds they didn't eat. I don't have to come behind the sheep, they seem to trim it all.