Grazing goats can reach as high as six feet to munch on leaves, which they prefer to grasses and stems. Photo: Wisconsin DNR.
Art Kabelowsky, DNR Forest Health outreach and communications specialist
Arthur.Kabelowsky@wisconsin.gov or 608-335-0167
“Who do you know wants to rent a goat?”
Milwaukee television viewers of a certain age might recognize that twist on the old commercial slogan of automobile dealer Ernie Von Schledorn: “Who do you know wants to buy a car?”
Although Ernie is no longer around, the idea of having foresters use goat grazing to control interfering vegetation remains in use.
It’s a discussion worth talking about — and listening to.
Goat grazing was the topic of a recent edition of SilviCast, a monthly podcast about silviculture produced as part of a collaborative effort between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Wisconsin Forestry Center, based at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
It’s a different case in northern Wisconsin, with green up just beginning and fire season at its peak. In fact, the areas with sandy soil and an abundance of pine trees are at critical fire danger, particularly because of a phenomenon called the “spring dip” – a time when the moisture content of pine needles is low and starch content is high. When pines are in the spring dip, individual tree torching and crown fire in groups of trees is a very real possibility. This type of fire is the most challenging to contain and extinguish.
As there is every glorious spring, there has been a flurry of tree planting in Wisconsin. Each little tree, from seed to sapling, is a hope and prayer that we make for the future. But as each reader knows, that future might be many years away.
