Many property owners are ditching chemicals and heavy machinery for an unlikely workforce.
Forget a trip to Bunnings, heavy machinery or manual labour – nature’s most enthusiastic groundskeepers will happily accept the role of weed controllers on your property.
Goats are helping many property owners and councils manage weeds to reduce bushfire risk on large landholdings, as well as stay an top of neglected urban yards.
The hardworking and adorable animals feast on invasive weeds, including gorse and blackberries, and other plants, making them the perfect solution for clearing large areas.
In South Australia, some property owners have goats as pets while others simply hire a herd for a few weeks or months at a time through Greedy Green Goats.
The business was born out of the Covid pandemic and founder Ben Peterson started with just four goats.
Ben and Belinda of Greedy Green Goats along the Cox Creek Trail near the Bridgewater Inn where a herd is based to tackle invasive weeds.
A herd of goats from Greedy Green Goats are currently based along the Cox Creek Trail near the Bridgewater Inn.
He now has 45 – or five herds.
South Australians with large properties as well as the Adelaide Hills and Victor Harbor councils were his main customers.
Mr Peterson said bushfire prevention was their goal, reducing fuel loads ahead of the summer months.
The goats are able to navigate tricky terrain where it is dangerous to get machines, they don’t spread seeds when they eat and their waste returns to the soil as organic matter.
Mr Peterson sets up temporary solar-powered electric fence netting in a targeted area to protect them, delivers a herd then checks on them each day.
“The goats do the hard work – they are climbers so they’ll eat on hills too,” he said.
“All my goats are friendly and kind-natured.
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“It’s for people who have got land and want the animal experience without buying goats.
“People need to love goats and have a passion for the environment – a lot of people just don’t like chemicals, they know how bad it is for the environment.”
Mr Peterson said goats will “go for everything” if they were left in one spot for too long.
He said goats could be used for suburban backyard maintenance but he generally avoided it as previous attempts had not gone to plan – he said the friendly animals just wanted to be inside the house.
Tim the Lawnmower Man with his 35 goats in western Sydney. Source: Facebook
The property before the goat invasion. Source: Facebook
Adelaide Hills Council has recently called on them to help along the Cox Creek Trail near the Bridgewater Inn, where a herd is based to tackle invasive weeds.
They have become a local attraction, with walkers and pub-goers often stopping to catch a glimpse of them.
Greedy Green Goats is the only business of its kind in SA but there are similar goat hire businesses interstate.
The work of goats on suburban backyards gained nationwide attention last year when Tim the Lawnmower Man hired a herd to clear a 700sqm neglected block in Western Sydney.
He documented their progress in a series of videos posted to his social media, explaining the team of 35 miniature goats cleared the “wild overgrowth” in just three days.
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