Archive for February, 2009
Mesa Deploys Goats to Clear Brush
February 1st, 2009
Categories:East Valley News
You have to give the City of Mesa a hand for this idea…
As the newest additions to the City of Mesa, goats are eating up approximately 30 acres of weeds and brush at one of the city’s water reclamation plants. The city is experimenting with the use of goats to perform vegetation control in place of mechanical mowing to utilize a non-polluting method of brush clearance at the Northwest Water Reclamation Plant.
The Utilities Department has approved a contract with Arizona Herdsman Eco Goats to clear the slopes of the water retention ponds for the next six months. On Jan. 5, the first ten of 80 goats were brought to their new grazing sight.
“The traditional use of machines and manpower is difficult due to the design of the retention ponds and the amount of vegetation at the site,” said Utilities Department Water Division Director Bill Haney. “Using goats allows us to use a more sustainable and environmentally responsible form of weed control.” 
While using goats is a non-polluting form of vegetation control, they also produce better results than the use of machinery. Goats possess a unique characteristic that separates them from almost all other types of livestock; they will eat just about anything resembling a plant. They can clear vegetation from hard-to-reach places, and they’ll eat the seeds that pesticides and mowing leave behind, preventing vegetation from coming back next year.
Environmentally, goats reduce the use of motorized vehicles, which in turn reduces air pollution and usage of fossil fuels, involve no toxic chemicals or pesticides and they produce biodegradable waste material that naturally breaks down into the soil. Goats also make better economic sense than utilizing mechanical means which are more costly.
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