Title: Greenbriar suppression with goat mob browsing
Abstract: Little information is available on the suppression of greenbriar (Smilax spp.), an invasive native vine of North America, by goats. Goats will readily browse greenbriar but little is known about how permanent this vegetation removal is and if it positively affects the subsequent development of the herbaceous canopy. When land managers are unwilling to spray herbicides or unable to afford chemical or mechanical means of controlling invasive plants, they may be willing to hire goats to achieve the same goal. Wooded paddocks in north-central Texas were split into mechanically cut (to allow goat access to all greenbriar leaves) and uncut (goats given access only up to 2 m). Days to 95% leaf removal of 12 kids/ha required an average 48 days while paddocks with 24 and 36 kids/ha averaged 30 days (P<0.05). Long term suppression of greenbriar did not vary by stocking rate or mechanical cut (P>0.05). However, herbaceous grass percentage of herbage mass did increase (P< 0.05) in all browsed paddocks compared to unbrowsed areas. Our results indicate that complete removal of greenbriar leaves can be achieved within a short time but destruction of plants may require long term browsing or use of herbicides on regrowth following browsing. Short duration mob browsing may provide flock owners a source of income in exchange for ridding land of unwanted greenbriar herbage, but suppression will only be temporary since plants are not destroyed during such short periods of herbage removal. [L L Boggs, J P Muir and J W Dunn (2012). Greenbriar suppression with goat mob browsing. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 24(5).] [Photo: Twelve goats/ha (left) took 46 days to clear a 0.4 ha paddock. Twenty-four goats per hectare (right) took just 30 days to clear the same area.]
