Hungry goats are a vine solution at Davidson

Runners on the cross-country trail at Davidson College found a furry surprise Saturday in woods once crawling with kudzu.

There in a clearing stood 30 goats in an area that looked freshly mowed.

But no mower had cut the nearly one-acre patch of ground.

The goats had done the job - eating as much as 20 pounds of kudzu per animal per day since they went to work last week.

"On Monday, this side of the trail looked exactly like that side," said Charles Jolly, pointing at chest-high kudzu as far as you could see.

Jolly is Davidson's assistant director of grounds maintenance.

He said the college rented the Boer goats from a farm near Asheville after a student suggested the environmentally friendly way to clear kudzu from the campus ecological preserve.

"It's a nightmare," Jolly said of the fast-growing vine that has taken over nearly six acres of the preserve. "Kudzu can grow a foot in a day in the summer. It covers everything."

Clearing kudzu with a tractor can be dangerous, because the vine creates a thick carpet of foliage that hides stumps, fallen logs and holes in the ground.

But goats are right at home in the kudzu-infested woods.

Saturday morning, they chomped on low-lying vines and reached up to grab kudzu hanging from trees.

"They'll put their hooves up on the trees and pull the kudzu down like they're reeling in a fish," Jolly said.

He estimates the 30 goats will be able to clear more than five acres of kudzu in five or six weeks.

They won't kill the vines but will tame it enough so grounds crews can remove stumps and fallen trees, plant grass and maintain the cross-country trail more easily.

"Or if funding is available," Jolly said, "we'll bring the goats back every year."

The cost to rent the goats, plus a trained guard dog to keep predators away, is about $3,000 for six weeks, Jolly said.

That includes an electric fence to keep the animals contained.

Ron Searcy, owner of the farm near Asheville that provided the goats, said he has also rented them to city park and recreation departments and to Virginia's Dominion electric company.

Ninety of his goats are currently chomping away on grass and invasive weeds on the grounds of a hydroelectric dam in Bath County, Virginia.

Davidson is the first college he's rented to.

As for Jolly, he enjoys watching the goats butt and shove each other playfully while munching their endless buffet of kudzu.

How to Profitably Raise Boer Goats - Money Making Guide - Ways To ...

“ATTENTION: If you have a Boer goat business or you are about to start one this may be the most valuable letter you will ever read…”

Here’s the true story of six successful Boer goat farmers who will share with you the proven techniques of their profitable Boer goat operations. Learn these tips for raising and breeding Boer goats, and how you can put them to work for YOU …This Is the Surest Way I Know To Increase Your Farm Income Substantially Without Spending Years Making Mistakes and Losing Money”

Did you know that demand for goat meat has increased by 320% from 1999, and is expected to steadily increase in the years to come?

Did you also know that the price of goat meat in the United States (and Canada, the U.K., and Australia) is high because there’s a serious LACK OF SUPPLY?

It’s a fact: demand for goat meat is increasing substantially every year, but there aren’t enough farmers raising meat goats!

Hi, my name is Marc MacDonald, but you can just call me “The Boer Goat Guy “. I started researching Boer goats as a profitable farming opportunity 3 years ago, and haven’t looked back.

Over the past few years I’ve amassed a lot of knowledge on what it takes to quickly scale up a Boer goat operation – knowledge that comes from interviewing successful Boer goat farmers from across the United States.

For the first time ever I’ve decided to share everything that I’ve learned over the years with you!

If you’re looking to expand your farm into the industry of the future, you’ve come to the right place. The Boer goat industry is….

Many of my friends ask me, “Why is demand for Boer goat meat increasing so quickly?” Here are just two of the biggest reasons:

Now, I know you’re aware of the HUGE opportunity that Boer goats represent today. Boers represent the FUTURE of massive livestock profits.

Nobody likes to “risk the farm” (ever wonder where that saying comes from?). We all want to be smart. We all want to get into a business at the right time, at the right place, and with the right information.

After all, who wants to lose money and time if they don’t need to? Not to mention have a WHOLE LOT of unnecessary stress!

There’s nothing worse than trying to learn about a new industry and finding a lot of useless information on the Internet.

(Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate all of those “history of the Boer goat” websites. But we’re in this to make money and provide for our families, right? Skip the fluff and show me the money!

Animal Adventures in North Carolina

How to Raise Goats

Homegrown handmade, art roads and farm trails

Livestock Guardians, Using Dogs Donkeys and Llamas to Protect Your Herd

Clinical chemistry, an overview