Goats on The Grass
Agnes Scott College has brought back the goats.
The goats were brought in on Sept. 25th to take care of some invasive species on campus. The effort was a collaboration between the Office of Facilities, the Department of Sustainability and Bright View Landscaping.
Bright View coordinated with DayDay’s Goat Rental to get 30 goats and two sheep on the campus for three to four weeks. Jessica A. Owen, from the Office of Facilities at Agnes Scott College said, “These goats are eating twenty to thirty pounds of grass, weeds and, ivy per day.” She continued to say that Agnes Scott College was committed to going above and beyond in regard to sustainability. Hoping to set an example for the surrounding community. “Everybody loves our goats. From faculty to staff to community members, people love to come and check up on them,” Owen said.
Goat rentals are big business in metro Atlanta. You can easily find companies through online databases or recommendation sites like Angie’s List that will rent their goats to you in order to get rid of your invasive species or overgrowth. Goats like to eat the hearty stuff first; things like kudzu, English ivy and poison ivy. This means they will have a lot to fill up on before they ever think about eating your grass.
“Business is good,” said Isaac Day owner of DayDay’s Goat Rental. When asked about a cost estimate Day explained that there are many factors that go into pricing. Things like the size of your property, the number of goats needed, temporary fencing if necessary, can impact your rental price. However, he did also say that 15 goats on one acre for a week would start at around $500. The added bonus is that goat manure is readily available. It’s much more effective than chicken manure because the digestion process of a goat removes the majority of the nitrogen in their manure.
Goats have been used to clear invasive species, especially kudzu, on the BeltLine and also along freeways and in many other public spaces. “They make the community so happy,” Owens said. She encourages other campuses in the area to look into the practice saying that it is the socially conscious thing to do.
