July 30-1130-Jennifer Cook
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This document discusses a study on using goats for targeted grazing of weeds in urban public spaces. The study examines the social, economic, and logistical considerations of a city grazing project through qualitative interviews with city workers and the goat owner. Key findings include the importance of community communication about the project for safety reasons and public understanding, developing good relationships between partners through a lease agreement and cost/labor sharing, and considering how the grazing impacts the environment and is a sustainable practice over the long term. The discussion suggests future research could obtain more resident input and long-term data on environmental impacts to help inform the development of an urban grazing guide.
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July 30-1130-Jennifer Cook
- 1. J E N N I F E R C O O K S M A L L A C R E A G E M A N A G E M E N T S P E C I A L I S T C O LO R A D O S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y E X T E N S I O N & U S DA - N R C S J U LY 3 0 , 2 0 1 9 Using Goats to Graze Weeds in Urban Public Spaces
- 2. Project Description 2 Grazing plans/vegetation descriptions Qualitative Interviews Develop Veg. Monitoring Protocols Meet the Goats Day
- 3. Research Question What are the social, economic and logistical considerations of using goats as an alternative weed control method in a city grazing project? 3
- 4. Relevance of Study Importance to environment Booth & Skelton, 2011; Garcia et al., 2012 Losada et al., 1998; Richardson, 2014 Revival of urban farming – grazing historically used for vegetation control Logsdon, 2004; Peischel & Henry, 2006 Very little research on targeted grazing in urban areas Losada et al., 1998; Richardson, 2014; Willard, 2016 This research benefits city planners, municipal land managers, livestock producers, and other 4
- 5. Discussion of Terms 5 Targeted Grazing - employs livestock to manipulate vegetation to improve landscape function and enhance appearance right timing, right species, right frequency of grazing City grazing project - city in Colorado partnered with local farmer to employ goats to attempt to reduce weeds along an urban recreational trail. 4-8 goats graze a few months per year Rotated through ½ acre sections One acre grazed in 2014. Expanded to 4 parcels (about 10 acres total)
- 6. Methodology: Participants & Procedure Purposeful sampling to identify five stakeholders Narrative research design Qualitative interviews and field notes Unstructured open-ended interviews audio recorded Goat owner City workers IRB approved 6
- 7. Methodology: Data Collected City workers and goat owner were asked open-ended research questions: 1. What are the safety and liability concerns cities should consider? 2. What are the economic costs of such projects? 3. How does the local public perceive the use of livestock for weed control? 4. What are the environmental impacts? 5. Should grazing be a part of a weed management plan? Why or why not? 7
- 8. Methodology: Data Analysis— Categorization of Codes 8 Initial Code Collapsed Safety Signage Community Public Perceptions Farm Public Relations Partnerships Lease Relationships Economic Costs Sustainable Farm Legacy Sustainability Environmental Impacts
- 9. Results “I find the more notification we can do ahead of time is better than having people surprised. Its just a lot more accepted. If they understand, then they’re not upset” (city worker #2, group interview, November 3, 2016) The main concerns are “making sure they don’t get out. Making sure there are signs posted to not interfere with them” (city worker #3, group interview, November 3, 2016) 9 “I’m not sure that people realize that it’s not a farm they’re riding by on their bikes. I just don’t know they realize it’s part of the city open space” (city worker #2, group interview, November 3, 2016) “It wasn’t the farm’s goats. It was, where are MY goats? And that to me is when the people sort of create this community bond” (goat owner, personal interview, November 2, 2016) Community
- 10. Results The lease “notes all sorts of things like what time I can be on the property, what kinds of machinery I can take on the property” (goat owner, personal interview, November 2, 2016) “It wasn’t like I had to import goats from Wyoming or Montana. It was local, and I had somebody I could work with, so it was a good partnership that way” (city worker #2, group interview, November 3, 2016) “And what the city encouraged me to think about, and has worked very well, is UV zip ties” (goat owner, personal interview, November 2, 2016) Relationships 10 “We are putting in the posts and she is buying the panels. And we’re installing them” (city worker #2, personal interview, November 3, 2016)
- 11. Results 11 “a natural form of weed control. It alleviates using the tractor and diesel fuel” (city worker #3, group interview, November 3, 2016) “We can enrich the soil. We can get the weeds under control. We can reseed. And there is this good public karma with having animals around. And that’s the magic piece” (goat owner, personal interview, November 2, 2016 “The grazing is something that I see as really a legacy that could be a positive sustainability piece between people’s food and agriculture and their understanding” (goat owner, personal interview, November 2, 2016) Sustainability “The environment that the goats are going to be in . . . you have to make sure the stuff you’re going to be grazing on is healthy for them” (city worker #3, group interview, November 3, 2016)
- 12. Discussion Community Safety - signage and public communication Community perspectives Community investment Relationships Good working partnership and communication Innovations Share material costs and labor Sustainability Consider site specifics, environmental impacts Closed loop system 12
- 13. Implications Considerations Size and scale of project How the grazing project is communicated to the community for safety and understanding Land accessibility, grazing infrastructure, liability, costs, and emergency preparedness Human happiness, environmental pollution, habitat biodiversity, and sustainability Develop a lease agreement Monitor weed impact over time 13
- 14. Limitations and Future Research 14 Environmental impacts based on anecdotal visual data Long-term quantitative field data to evaluate the environmental and vegetative impacts are needed Project lacks input from residents Resident survey or interviews for future research Future community educational programs
- 15. Product: Urban Grazing Guide 15 Checklist of considerations Example vegetation monitoring strategies Example targeted grazing plan
- 16. References Booth, A., & Skelton, N. (2011). Anatomy of a failed sustainability initiative: Government and community resistance to sustainable landscaping in a Canadian city. Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy, 7(4), 56-68. Garcia, R. R., Celaya, R., Garcia, K., & Osoro, K. (2012). Goat grazing, its interactions with other herbivores and biodiversity conservation issues. Small Ruminant Research, 10, 49-64. doi: 10.1016/j.smallrumres.2012.03.021. Logsdon, G. (2004). All Flesh is Grass: The Pleasures and Promises of Pasture Farming. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press. Losada, H., Marinez, H., Vieyra, J., Pealing, R., Zavala, R., & Cortes. (1998). Urban agriculture in the metropolitan zone of Mexico City: Changes over time in urban, suburban and peri-urban areas. Environment and Urbanization, 10, 37-54. Peischel, A., & Henry Jr., D. D. (2006). Targeted grazing: A natural approach to vegetation management and landscape enhancement. American Sheep Industry Association (ASI). Retrieved from http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/rxgrazing/handbook/asitargetgrazingbook2006.pdf Richardson, Z. A. (2014). Urban prescribed grazing as an alternative to conventional land management techniques: Environmental, economic, and social implications. (Master’s Thesis). Retrieved from https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/richardson_zachary_a_201405_mla.pdf Willard, R. (2016). Animals in roadside vegetation management. Washington State Department of Transportation Maintenance Operations. Retrieved from https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/C2EDF36B-63E7-434E-946E- E78F306501F5/0/goatreport.pdf 16
- 17. J E N N I F E R CO O K S M A L L AC R E AG E M A N AG E M E NT CO O R D I N ATO R C S U E X T E N S I O N / U S DA - N R C S J E N N I F E R . CO O K @ CO LO S TAT E . E D U Using Goats to Graze Weeds in Urban Public Spaces
Editor's Notes
- Work with beginning and urban farmers as well as hobby farmers in Colorado near Denver. I have lived in CO for 12 years but I grew up in PA, so it’s nice to be back in my home state.
- My involvement started in 2015 when I was asked to develop a grazing plan for a public site. The project turned into my masters research which included qualitative interviews of project participants, developing vegetation monitoring protocols, grazing plans for a few more sites, and a community Meet the Goats Day – where the local news came, over 100 people to learn more about the goats and the grazing project. Great way to facilitate discussion about farming with an urban community disconnected from where their food comes from.
- The purpose of this study was to describe the social, economic and logistical considerations of using goats as an alternative weed control method in the city of Wheat Ridge grazing project. The following research questions were asked.
- Why is this research relevant? Booth and Skelton (2011) point out that the growing human health and environmental concerns about herbicide use has pressured municipalities to utilize more sustainable weed management practices. In urban areas, where public perception can be very influential, grazing can be a more acceptable practice Targeted grazing can improve air, soil, and water quality and can be a more sustainable option than the use of synthetic herbicides, fertilizers, and burning fossil fuels from the use of heavy equipment (Richardson, 2014). Grazing has been used historically for veg control and urban grazing ties in well with the recent urban ag trend. There is much research on using targeted grazing on traditional farming systems and large tracts of land (Frost & Launchbaugh, 2003; Peischel & Henry, 2006; Rinella & Hileman, 2009). While the grazing principles are the same (i.e., right timing, right species, right frequency of grazing, etc.), there are different social, economic, and logistical considerations when using targeted grazing in urban and suburban settings. Many news and media stories cover urban livestock and grazing, but there are few scholarly research studies to help answer these questions. The insights gained in this study will benefit city planners, municipal land managers, livestock producers, and other urban/suburban stakeholders as they consider using livestock for target grazing in urban public landscapes.
- In 2014, a city in Colorado, began a small project using goats for targeted weed control. The city Parks and Recreation Department partnered with a local farm to employ goats to attempt to reduce weeds along Clear Creek trail - an urban recreational trail that runs along Clear Creek. The project area is in close proximity to houses, schools, roads, and businesses. One acre was fenced and grazed in 2014. Additional fencing was installed over last few years. In 2018, 4 parcels and about 10 acres are grazed.
- Qualitative interviews and observations were employed to describe experiences, themes, and perceptions of the Wheat Ridge urban grazing project. Participants took part in unstructured, open-ended interviews in which general and emerging questions were asked. The four city workers were interviewed as a group and the goat owner was interviewed separately. IRB-approved script –informed consent, names, job titles are not disclosed
- Qualitative research involves investigating a topic of inquiry in a systematic way and then conducting a content analysis on the data collected (Merriam, 2009). Each interview was typed into a word processing document. The researcher reviewed the documents and coded and analyzed the data for themes and patterns (Creswell, 2014; Silverman, 2001). Next the researcher reviewed findings and decided upon ten initial codes (see Table 1). After further review, the initial ten codes were collapsed into three overall themes: 1) community, 2) relationships, and 3) sustainability Individual coding and analysis of data for themes and patterns
- Because this was qualitative research, I used quotes from the interviews to tell a story. The themes are community, relationships, and sustainability. Safety, signage, communication, perspectives, community investment - building community and relationships. Goat owner told a story about the first time she grazed her goats on the public space. She wasn’t sure how the community was feeling about it or if they even noticed. But then the day she removed them, she got calls from people saying where are MY goats?..... Qualitative pieces – maybe use one example or tell a story , what was important to all
- The project was grounded on a good partnership. Good communication – lease, cost sharing materials and labor Emergencies and expectations are discussed and planned for Local partnership – shared cost of infrastructure – long-term Innovative ideas have come out of the relationship
- Building community based on great relationships and the partners all considered natural resources and sustainability of the project. Consider environmental impacts – site specific history, T&E species, forage for goats Natural resources - Air, water, soil health, plants and people Sustainable – resources, economics, quality of life Site specific history of this area was farming, and this project helped revitalize this – last guote…
- Closed loop system – They utilize local resources – goats, manure, forage, and sell products (milk, cheese, soap) to local community. Site specifics - T&E, Farm legacy, vegetation, soil, water impacts What are the social, economic and logistical considerations of using goats as an alternative weed control method in a city grazing project? What are the safety and liability concerns cities should consider? What are the economic costs of such projects? How does the local public perceive the use of livestock for weed control? What are the environmental impacts? Why should grazing be a part of a weed management plan?
- So what does all this mean to someone considering an urban targeted grazing project? The main purpose of the study asks- What are the social, economic and logistical considerations of using goats as an alternative weed control method in a city grazing project? Good idea to be able to monitor weed impact over time, to measure relevance of this method.
- The environmental impacts discussed in the research were based on anecdotal visual data. While we can assume that grazing is more environmentally beneficial than using herbicides or heavy equipment, the argument would be strengthened with quantitative field data to evaluate the impacts of soil health, air quality, and vegetation with one method of weed control verses another. For example, a long-term evaluation of vegetation and soil quality changes over time. Update on project: Since 2014, expanded to about 10 acres of grazing on 4 sites. One plot has been reseeded to native grasses and excluded from grazing as it establishes. Its looking great. Last winter in 2018 the goats were stolen from one of the open space plots. So no grazing has taken place this year yet. The goat owner is replacing her herd and looking in to tracking devices for the new goats.
- Ocular plant composition and density of weed species were used because each take little time and resources.
- Most comprehensive handbook is through University of Idaho and American Sheep Industry Association – Targeted grazing handbook