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LODI NEWS SENTINEL
July 6, 2002 Ag researcher unleashes secret weapon — goats
By Ryan Campbell/News-Sentinel
Staff Writer
A little-known government center on the outskirts of Lockeford is
conducting experiments on a new secret weapon in California’s
agricultural arsenal — goats.
Researchers at a plant materials center funded by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture are using common goats to clear large areas of unwanted
foliage. From thistles to thorns, from puncture weed to poison oak,
nearly anything that stands still long enough to be eaten is on the menu
for these gluttonous goats.
The idea to study the eating habits of goats was hatched by
agronomist Tish Espinosa, who has been a plant research specialist at
the center for 10 years.
Espinosa, in essence, is looking for the most voracious goats — the
biggest, most ravenous eaters. By isolating the piggiest goats, she
hopes to help farmers make use of goats as four-legged machines to munch
invasive plant growth away from their crops.
Espinosa was astonished by the animals’ ability to eat blackberry
bushes with razor-sharp thorns and thought that there might be a place
for their appetite in the increasingly efficient world of agriculture.
With only one year of research behind her, Espinosa is already
beginning to see results. The animals were able to devour a patch of
thorn-ridden blackberry bushes that had taken control of a large portion
of the center’s riverfront property.
Like floppy-eared lawnmowers, a small herd of goats can clear a
mile-long levee filled with dense foliage in about a month.
“They don’t seem to mind it,” she said. “In fact, they love it.”
The herd actually belongs to Gayla Roberts, who raises several breeds
of goat on a nearby ranch.
Roberts said the reason the goats eat such a bizarre variety of food
and so much of it is because the plants they like to eat generally have
a low nutritional value. Goats must eat a wide range of plants to gain
the necessary nutrients to survive.
But becoming a super eater takes strategy. Animals that know which
foods to eat don’t need to be fed by their owners and thus spend more
time eating the unwanted foliage.
Espinosa constantly checks the weight and health of the goats to
measure their eating ability. Once an animal begins to lose weight, it
is removed.
Not every goat is cut out for such a prickly pursuit.
Espinosa started with a herd of about 130 animals, but over months of
observation, she has systematically weeded out animals that can’t
stomach such a rigorous meal. Through selective breeding, Espinosa plans
to create a race of super goats that will be available to farmers. She
is now left with 75 of the heartiest animals.
“They’re like people. Some like the easy life and some can handle a
little more,” she said.
Espinosa is confident about the environmental benefits of the animals
as well.
The goats make it possible for farmers to eradicate unwanted bushes
and shrubs without the use of chemical herbicides. In addition, goats
prefer to eat leafy bushes and shrubs and leave beneficial grasses
relatively unharmed.
She said goat hooves lightly disturb the soil, allowing beneficial
plants to grow. And the goats’ droppings help to fertilize the ground.
Goat digestion is so complete, she said, that no species of seed is
resilient enough to pass through the animal’s four chambered stomach and
survive to take root.
“We’re trying to show how agriculture and nature can coexist, and
even complement each other,” she said.
Currently, the center has only enough funding to contract out the
goats from Roberts.
She said that goats have a variety of uses beside their role as
eating machines. Roberts raises different breeds for wool, milk and meat
as well as the super eater variety.
The secret, Roberts said, to a goat’s remarkable ability to eat the
inedible is their hard palate. This tough bony ridge on the animals’
upper jaw allows them to chew almost anything.
Despite their utility, goats can be tricky to work with. They
routinely kick and butt each other with their horns and maintain a
strict social hierarchy.
“They all know immediately where they stand in the group, and if they
step out of line — bam!” Roberts said.
To keep the animals eating in a specific area, Roberts and Espinosa
use a portable electrified fence hooked up to a car battery. Espinosa
said that the goats are not hurt by the fence, merely persuaded to stay
where they belong.
The plant materials center encompasses over 106 acres of prime
farmland along the Mokelumne River.
Since 1972, a USDA supported facility has been conducting experiments
in an array of ag related fields. The center’s main duties involve
collecting promising plants and testing their performance under a
variety of soil, climatic and use conditions.
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