Local Regulations and Goat Grazing
Did you know the founder of Goats On The Go® is a community planner and former member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, who worked in and for local governments for 15 years? Did you know Goats On The Go® won the 2014 Environmental Planning Award from the Iowa Chapter of the American Planning Association? We understand that requests for targeted goat grazing in your community may put you and other city officials in a pinch when it comes to your local regulations. We’re here to help! Check out the FAQ and resources below, and contact us with any questions you might have.
WHat is targeted grazing?
Targeted grazing is the application of a specific kind of livestock at a determined season, duration, and intensity to accomplish defined vegetation or landscape goals. It is also known as “conservation grazing,” or “prescribed grazing" or "RX grazing."
When delivered by a qualified provider, targeted grazing is a short-duration, professional service with serious benefits for your citizens and even your publicly-owned properties.
Why is targeted grazing needed?
The need for targeted grazing has grown out of several trends:
North America is in an uphill battle with invasive plants. One estimate places the loss of native wildlife habitat to invasive plants at 1.8 million acres per year. Urban and suburban forests (on both public and private land) serve as nurseries for the spread of these plants.
Increasingly devastating wildfires in the western U.S. are fueled by excess vegetation — often invasive plants. The scale is such that manual and mechanical removal alone is not practical. The greatest risk for loss of life and property is in urban, suburban, and rural fringe areas.
The public is increasingly averse to the use of chemical pesticides for controlling vegetation, which is one of the only means of control (other than targeted grazing) that can have an impact at scale. Chemicals are often inappropriate near bodies of water and occupied structures. Organizations managing public properties are increasingly the targets of lawsuits claiming damages by chemical pesticides.
Targeted grazing (typically with goats, but also sheep) controls problem vegetation without erosion, chemicals, or the disruption and burning of fossil fuels that comes with mechanization.
Who uses targeted grazing?
Customers for targeted grazing include home owners, HOA’s, public parks and trail systems, landfills, power transmission companies, golf courses, corporate campuses, business parks, colleges and universities, and more.
As developments are increasingly required to use green infrastructure to manage stormwater and deliver other benefits, goats are proving to be ideal for the maintenance of these amenities.
Native prairie plantings in the Midwest and plains states, for example, are often planted among impermeable areas to infiltrate runoff and hold the banks of detention ponds in place. In rural areas these would be maintained with prescribed fire, but the nuisance of smoke and the danger of fire typically makes this impossible in more populated areas, so nature’s other historical vegetation-managing force — focused grazing — can fill the gap just as effectively and without the huge release of carbon into the air.
Our regs prohibit livestock inside city limits, so Targeted grazing is out, right?
Do your regulations really prohibit targeted grazing, or do they prohibit “the keeping of livestock animals?” If it’s the latter, is “keeping” defined? I think we can all agree that this terminology, or something similar to it, was written (and copied by myriad local governments) long before targeted grazing as a service was a thing. When that line of code was written, it surely didn’t anticipate the short-duration, professional service that is delivered by qualified targeted grazing companies today.
Your code probably also defines certain types of animal-based commercial services that are specifically permitted despite the prohibition on “the keeping of livestock.” Rodeos, petting zoos, and circuses are common ones. If that’s true for your local regulations, then the writers of the original code language clearly anticipated a need to distinguish between those types of services and the keeping of farm animals for agriculture or as pets. We recommend lumping targeted grazing among those exceptions, and judiciously administering rules for those uses that are reasonable to apply to targeted grazing.
It may be time for my community to adopt an ordinance specifically For targeted grazing. What are some do’s and Don’ts?
As noted above, there’s likely no real reason to interpret your existing regulations as an outright prohibition on targeted grazing. But, if your community wants to get ahead of the game, maybe it’s time for a new ordinance written specifically to accommodate it. That’s smart, because targeted grazing is rapidly growing in popularity and you’ll be receiving more calls about it from your citizens. It’s also smart because innovative communities all across the country are already publicly embracing grazing — often for its own parks and facilities — and are reaping the PR rewards.
Here are some do’s and don’ts:
Do…Limit targeted grazing to sheep and goats.
Don’t…Regulate the breed, size, coat type, or horns of the animals. Horns are natural and help goats defend themselves from predators.
Do…Limit the number of “animal days per acre” allowed on a given property each year. “Animal days per acre” is the number of animals times the number of days they are on-site, divided by the number of acres in the grazing area. We recommend setting the number to allow two distinct grazing events per year, as this is the best way to kill targeted vegetation without chemicals. 400 - 500 animal days per acre is about right, depending on your region. For example, if 40 goats take five days to graze one acre, that’s 200 animal days per acre for the first grazing event. If 200 goats were used to complete the same acre in one day, it would still be 200 animal days per acre.
Don’t…Limit the raw number of animals. Negative impacts on the land accrue to the amount of time they spend on it, not the overall number of animals. Faster is better, generally (both for the vendor and the neighbors), and faster comes with more animals. If a limit is to be set, it should be a minimum number. Two goats working on a five acre vegetation problem are unlikely to eat it fast enough to stay ahead of new growth. This situation starts to look like the continuous “keeping of livestock” that your jurisdiction wants to avoid. True targeted grazing is done efficiently, according to a defined plan.
Do…set a maximum response time within which the vendor must be able to travel to the property in case of an issue.
Don’t…require the vendor to be on-site 24/7. Having someone living on the curb for a week would be far less compatible in most neighborhoods than the goats themselves.
Do…require the vendor to place signs on project sites with contact information and warnings about electric fencing. Insist that the vendor use modern, pulse-type fence energizers. Modern energizers send a momentary, low-voltage pulse of electricity through the fence, not a continuous stream. A shock from these energizers feels like a stiff static shock you might get around your house.
Don’t…dictate the brand, style, or dimensions of fencing to be used. Vendors know how their animals have been conditioned, and what fence works for them. Fence height is not really an issue with electric fences, as they are psychological — not physical — barriers. Fence height is a red herring. It doesn’t matter how tall an electric fence is, it works because the animals are conditioned to avoid the electricity, not because they aren’t physically capable of jumping it.
Do…require the vendor to provide access to water for the animals.
Don’t…place pet-style restrictions on the treatment of the animals. These are livestock animals that gather their own food from the vegetation on-site and grow up in pasture conditions, typically without artificial shelter, drinking from ponds, creeks, and rivers. Goats, in particular, are very heat tolerant. Some well-intentioned rules may actually be harmful. Crowding in the corners of artificial shelters, particularly during weather extremes, is a frequent killer of goats and sheep.
Do…require the vendor to be insured. Bonding and registration with the local government are something you might consider.
Don’t…require the vendor to go through a long permitting process before each targeted grazing project. Again, quick projects are generally good projects. It can’t take longer to apply for and get the permit than it takes to do a project. Consider an ongoing annual permit requiring the vendor to notify the local government of the planned arrival and departure of animals at each new project site.
How are other local governments handling goat grazing?
My public agency would like to hire a goat grazing vendor for a vegetation management project. Any advice?
You bet! First, seek out experienced professionals who carry insurance and have a track record of success. Targeted grazing is not an exact science, so you’ll need a service provider who has the expertise and flexibility to adapt to circumstances that inevitably change in the midst of the project.
Second, keep the focus on the outcomes you desire rather than dictating to potential vendors how they must get the job done. You wouldn’t tell a construction company whether they should use a skid loader or a backhoe for a particular task. You’d let them decide what’s best based on their own experience and expertise. So, no need to tell potential vendors what kind of goats to use or how many, or how long they must graze a particular area. Instead, specify the targeted vegetation, the percentage and height of defoliation you desire, and the time frames in which the grazing events must be completed.
Finally, asking for a single per acre price for each unique grazing event will give you the best apples-to-apples comparison among bidders. Vendors who would normally charge setup fees, trucking fees, etc. should roll those costs into the per acre price. If there are options you may want to exercise (such as requirements for non-electric fencing, detailed reporting, or the vendors’ around-the-clock presence on the project site), specify those as potential add-on’s and ask bidders to price them separately. This will allow you to see how certain “upgrades” will affect the cost of your project.