Wild Weed-Whackers

About 40 goats are busy eating in Ada Hayden Heritage Park in Ames, Iowa. They don’t care about the park visitors and dog owners on the other side of the fence at all. They only see delicious brush and grasses.

The goats aren’t there to entertain visitors; they’re doing a job. These goats are only a small part of a herd that belongs to Goats On the Go. It’s one of the growing number of goat-renting businesses across the U.S. Cities, businesses, and individuals are renting goats to perform controlled grazing on green areas. 

About 40 goats are busy eating in a park in Ames, Iowa. The goats don’t care about the people watching them. They only see delicious brush and grasses.

The goats aren't there to entertain visitors. They're doing a job for Goats On the Go. Goats on the Go is a business that rents goats. It's one of many goat-renting businesses across the U.S. Cities, businesses, and individuals rent goats to perform controlled grazing. In controlled grazing, goats eat weeds, leaves, and grasses in a specific area.

In Colorado, Einar Jensen hired goats to help prevent wildfires. He’s a risk reduction specialist at South Metro Fire Rescue in Centennial, Colorado. His city has many shrub oaks. These short trees can spread fires easily. The goats eat the oaks’ leaves and smaller branches close to the ground. This creates “fire breaks” between the surface grass and the upper canopy branches.

Fire breaks prevent flames from reaching the canopy. If the canopy caught fire, the blaze would become more difficult to fight. Eliminating any extra brushes or fuel sources in between grasses and trees also helps. “That’s why the goats are so effective for preventing wildfires,” Jensen says.

Goats can also help prevent wildfires. Einar Jensen is a risk reduction specialist at South Metro Fire Rescue in Centennial, Colorado. He's hired goats to snack on the shrub oaks in his city. These short trees can spread fires easily. The goats eat the oaks' leaves. They also snack on the smaller branches close to the ground. This creates "fire breaks." A fire break is cleared space between the ground and the upper branches of the canopy. The canopy is made up of the top branches of the trees.

Fire breaks prevent flames from reaching the canopy. It’s difficult to fight fires that reach the canopy. Getting rid of extra brushes or fuel sources in between grasses and trees also helps. "That's why the goats are so effective for preventing wildfires," Jensen says.