Have You Herd? Grazing Animals Are the GOAT for Groundskeeping

Do your grounds need tending? There’s a natural way to get the job done that you might never have considered—grazing animals!

In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has employed the use of goats at its laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island, each summer since 2016, to graze the grounds in lieu of traditional landscaping.

In 2022, 16 goats visited the Narragansett facility twice—once in June and again in August. These goat landscapers (known as goatscapers) are brought in by a local organization to clear the grounds of unwanted or overgrown plants. In addition to being great groundskeepers, they also are good entertainment for workers at the EPA facility.

“Having the goats at the lab each summer is a win-win for everyone,” said Tara Burke, a biologist at EPA’s Narragansett lab. “The goats help us reduce the need for traditional landscaping, contributing to our sustainability efforts. Plus, they are so fun to watch moving about the lab!”

According to the EPA, the goats will eat nearly all plants, including invasive varieties such as mile-a-minute vine. They’ll also consume plants that are toxic to humans, such as poison ivy and poison sumac. Once the goats have finished clearing the overgrown plants, the grounds are more suitable for native plants and can be maintained for much longer than traditional landscaping.

Goats are an environmentally sound solution to landscaping as well, as they reduce the amount of fuel needed to power landscaping equipment and eliminate the need for pesticide use. Goats are also useful on hilly or rocky terrain that would be difficult to access with lawnmowers.

According to an article by National Geographic, goats also have the unique ability to help prevent wildfires during draught conditions. The goats can reduce flammable plants from rugged terrain, which they can navigate with much more ease than humans.

Goats aren’t the only animals used to clear grounds. According to an article by University of Georgia (UGA) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, sheep, too, can be used to clear brush and invasive plants from fields. Although neither animal is picky about their food sources, sheep tend to like broad-leaf weeds like ivy or kudzu, while goats prefer woodier plants. Sheep can’t climb quite as well as goats, but they are also less likely to be a flight risk. Along the way, both animals leave behind a source of fertilizer that improves the nutrients in the soil even after they’re gone.

If you’re wondering how to get goats or sheep to tend your field, businesses with names such as “Rent A Goat” and “Rent-A-Ruminant” exist that specialize in renting grazing animals to facilities. According to American home services website Angi, renting animals to clear your field can cost between US$400 and $1,000 per acre. Compare that to the $2,000–$4,000 per acre cost that Angi estimates human landscapers would charge for similar brush removal work.