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Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Food for thought

This was an innovative ecological solution worth sharing...

Weeds got your goat?
Itasca State Park uses goats to get their weeds.

Ryan Bakken,Herald Staff Writer

When Itasca State Park was invaded by a noxious weed, experts examined the latest science and came up with a solution:

Goats.

Yes, goats. To these homely, hoofed creatures, spotted knapweed is the equivalent of a chocolate eclair. It was the diet of choice for 31 goats that ate through six acres of the weed over six days. They have unconventional taste buds among grazers.

"Goats don't want grass, like sheep, cows and horses," said Peggy Fultz, the Bagley goat rancher who supplied the four-legged weed control agents. "They want brush and weeds. They made a beeline for that spotted knapweed."

They were a much better choice than herbicides. Remember, the mouth of the Mississippi River is in the park. It would be bad public relations to pollute it.

"It's a highly sensitive area here," said Becky Marty, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officer at Itasca. "The spotted knapweed is right along the Mississippi, plus we have a lot of wetlands and a high water table in the park."

Marty worked with Clearwater County extension agent Jim Stordahl on the project. They recruited Brooke Fultz, Peggy's 16-year-old daughter, to be a goat herder for two different stretches this summer. Multiple munching is required to kill the weeds.

"Spotted knapweed is like leafy spurge in North Dakota - there are wanted posters out on both of them," Stordahl said. "They're in the same cast of evil characters. They tend to choke out existing vegetation, which is bad for a variety of reasons."

Natural grasses were planted during these grazing periods. The goats' hooves helped to plant the seeds, and their waste provided nutrients.

"So we're weeding, planting, fertilizing and watering at the same time," Peggy said with a laugh. "So, it's a pretty unique project."

The Fultz family has 500 goats, among an estimated 1,200 within 10 miles of their home.

Goat meat is the most-consumed red meat in the world and is the fastest-growing consumed meat in Minnesota, Stordahl said. The reason is that Minnesota's new immigrants come from countries where it's the preferred meat.

The goat is the beast of choice in Third World countries because it can survive in the mountains, the brush and the desert. A goat is not a finicky eater, and it produces milk and meat.

"The meat is low in fat, low in cholesterol, tender, moist and able to absorb flavors," Peggy said.

Goat is also a proven weed-eater elsewhere, having been employed to destroy leafy spurge and poison ivy, among other vegetation villains.

"We went back to a tool used hundreds of years ago," Marty said. "We have so many tools to control our problems, but often it's best just to go back to the basics and use what's the healthiest for the ecosystem."

The Itasca project was a test. The scope may broaden, as goats may be used next year in gravel pits, where the spotted knapweed flourishes. The gravel and sand then is spread onto roads, broadening its reach.

"What's so exciting is that the goats are eating our problem," Marty said. "There are no chemical additives and no ground disturbances. There are lots of pluses and a huge potential."

Everyone's happy.

The DNR people are happy to get rid of a weed without a chemical spill floating down the Mighty Mississippi.

The Fultz family is happy to see their goats fattened.

And the goats are licking their lips over scrumptious spotted knapweed.