{"id":18426,"date":"2021-09-23T16:53:15","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T20:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=18426"},"modified":"2025-02-10T16:41:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T20:41:39","slug":"goat-grazing-could-be-an-option-for-invasive-species-removal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/goat-grazing-could-be-an-option-for-invasive-species-removal\/","title":{"rendered":"Goat Grazing Could Be an Option for Invasive Species Removal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prescribed or targeted grazing has been used on Western rangelands for many years to manage range weeds and is also used to reduce fuel and maintain fire breaks in high fire hazard areas. It has also been used in the south to help control kudzu.<\/p>\n

In a recent study, Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Ron Rathfon<\/a>\u00a0tested goat grazing as a method to control a continuous stand of mature, dense multiflora rose in the understory of one of the timber stands at the Southern Indiana Purdue Agricultural Center (SIPAC). After the steep slope resisted a few rounds of prescribed fire and conventional methods like cutting and spraying were deemed impractical due to the terrain and the thick growth of thorny rose, Rathfon decided to give the animals a try at reducing the invasive species.<\/p>\n

\"Goat<\/a><\/div>\n

The results of Rathfon\u2019s five-year experiment were recently published in the journal Restoration Ecology (Volume 29, Issue 4, May 2021) in an article titled\u00a0\u201cEffects of prescribed grazing by goats on non-native invasive shrubs and native plant species in a mixed hardwood forest.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Rathfon co-authored the publication with professor of forest ecology\u00a0Dr. Mike Jenkins<\/a>, and master\u2019s degree alumna Skye Greenler.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough prescribed grazing is not new, no research has been published demonstrating its use for invasive brush species management in eastern hardwood forests and quantifying its impacts on native vegetation,\u201d Rathfon explained. \u201cThe goal was to test the use of the goats to control invasive woody brush species as a first step in restoring degraded hardwood forests. I anticipated the goats would reduce understory plant cover. What I didn\u2019t know is how long it would take or whether native vegetation would be more severely impacted than the targeted invasive plants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rathfon and his cohorts varied the goat stocking rate (16 vs. 32-48 goats per acre) and also the number of times a plot was grazed during a growing season (once or twice). Goats were not left in the woods continuously throughout the growing season. When they consumed all green leaves, they were removed, to prevent serious long-term damage to the trees, which had occurred with past livestock grazing in woodlands.<\/p>\n

Full Article >>><\/a><\/p>\n

Resources:<\/strong>
\nWhat are invasive species and why should I care?<\/a>, Purdue Extension-Forestry and Natural Resources Blog
\nInvasive Plant Series: Swallow-worts<\/a>, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
\nMile-a-Minute Vine<\/a>, The Education Store
\nPlanting Forest Trees and Shrubs in Indiana<\/a>, The Education Store
\nInvasive Species Playlist<\/a>, Purdue Extension-Forestry and Natural Resources YouTube Channel
\nReport Invasive Species<\/a>, Purdue Invasive Species
\nThe GLEDN Phone App<\/a> \u2013 Great Lakes Early Detection Network
\nEDDMaps<\/a> \u2013 Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System
\nIndiana Department of Natural Resources: Invasive Species<\/a>
\nIndiana Invasive Species Council<\/a>
\nCooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA)<\/a><\/p>\n

Wendy Mayer<\/a>, FNR Communications Coordinator
\nPurdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prescribed or targeted grazing has been used on Western rangelands for many years to manage range weeds and is also used to reduce fuel and maintain fire breaks in high fire hazard areas. It has also been used in the south to help control kudzu. In a recent study, Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Ron Rathfon\u00a0tested goat grazing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,54,622],"tags":[256,1149,943,1506,66,72],"class_list":["post-18426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forestry","category-wildlife","category-woodlands","tag-fnr","tag-fnr-ext","tag-fnr-extension","tag-goats","tag-invasive-plant-species","tag-wildlife","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 11:05:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18426"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31374,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18426\/revisions\/31374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}