Use of goats as biological agents for the renovation of pastures in the Appalachian region of the United States

Abstract

Much of hill-land pasture in the Appalachian region of the United States is dominated by herbaceous weeds and brush. Low cost, low input and environmentally acceptable reclama- tion procedures are needed to maintain the productivity of these pastures. This experiment evaluated the effectiveness of using goats ( Capra hircus hircus) alone (30 mature, brush does/ha) or cattle (Bos taurus) with goats (17 mature, brush does/ha + two to three steers/ha - 225 kg average live weight) to reclaim a pasture from an abandoned, overgrown 5.9 ha orchard left untouched for 15 years. Over four grazing seasons, managed defoliation resulted in a substan- tial increase in herbaceous vegetative cover in plots grazed by goats alone (65 to 86%) and by goats with cattle (65 to 80%) while vegetative cover decreased from 70 to 22% in the control plot. Similarly, the cover by grass species increased in the grazed plots (goats: 16 to 63%; goats + cattle: 13 to 54%) while averaging 10% in the control plot. Multiflora rose ( Rosa multiflora Thumb.) bushes were practically eliminated after four grazing seasons as quantified by an average reduction in height from 2.1 m to 0.6 m, and by the number of dead canes (stems) in both the goat (100%) or goat + cattle (92%) treatments. Results indicated that the foraging habits of goats resulted in the elimination of multiflora rose bushes and in a significant increase in desirable forage species.