Title: Goats deployed across Gold Coast hinterland, northern NSW help landowners tackle rampant weeds
[ABC Gold Coast / By Gemma Sapwell and Mark Rigby 05 May 23] -- Goats deployed across the Australian Gold Coast hinterland and northern New South Wales are helping landowners tackle rampant weeds such as wild tobacco, devil's fig, privet, and camphor laurel. Sandrine Rangeon runs a one-woman operation that brings in about 100 goats to a property, sets up electric fencing to contain the renowned escape artists, and puts them to work devouring anything green in their cloven-hoofed path. They have an insatiable appetite for weeds and will work in any weather and across any terrain.
Ms Rangeon said the goats targeted weeds over native species and allowed landowners to avoid using toxic synthetic herbicides. "It depends on the amount of vegetation, but they can usually go through about one to two acres [0.4 to 0.8 hectares] of weed per week," she said.
Ms Rangeon's goats are currently munching their way through vegetation at Cudgera Creek in the Tweed Valley, where the local council says weeds are a major problem due to fertile growing conditions. Owner Kate Haigh moved from Brisbane to the property about 18 months ago and hired Ms Rangeon's goats after initial attempts to control the weeds proved futile. "We've got really steep slopes on the property and we tried to use a mower to manage the weeds and it didn't work." Dr Haigh said she wanted to find an environmentally sustainable way to eradicate the weeds so the area could be regenerated with native plants. "There's a lot of herbicide used around here and it kills off everything," she said. "It obviously kills off what is above ground but it also kills what's below ground and that's where a lot of microorganisms that support growth are. "We wanted an organic land management strategy and the goats have been perfect for that." While Dr Haigh's focus has been on weed control, Ms Rangeon said with hotter El Niño conditions predicted to return later this year, the goats would be increasingly used for bushfire mitigation strategies.
Reducing fuel loads
In New South Wales, the Rural Fire Service is in the final stages of a trial using goats for hazard reduction in high-risk bushfire areas. The grazing trial arose in response to the NSW Bushfire Inquiry into the 2019/2020 Black Summer fires, which recommended exploring a range of hazard reduction techniques. Justin Zwan, an operation officer at the RFS, said the trial would finish next month and so far had shown promising results.
"The goats can work around the clock, they're more of a natural remedy for the bush," he said. Mr Zwan said the biggest advantage was they didn't require the ideal weather conditions necessary to conduct hazard reduction burns. "We feel we have a better grasp on reducing the fuel load within time and weather constraints," he said. With a number of councils in Victoria and South Australia using goats in their weed-management strategies, Ms Rangeon said she was hopeful councils in south-east Queensland would follow suit. In the meantime, she has more work than she can handle, and takes the relentless puns in her stride.
