As one who raises goats, I can tell you that goats aren't grazers: their preferred food is trees, shrubs, weeds and alfalfa... the "meat" of the vegetation world; they consider grass as "salad stuff", good for a taste change but not something for best growth. Sheep and cattle do best on grass. Goats are best at clearing brush from neglected pastures and woods, then putting sheep and cattle on the improved pastures.

Not that anyone here particularly cares, I suspect. lol

Jenny

Oh I care! Out here in the NW, blackberry bushes are the bane of the land owner's existence. People spend bucks trying to get rid of them - spraying poisons galore! When I was a kid, my mom almost burnt down our neighbor's barn by setting fire to our field to try and burn them out (she grew up in the Dakotas). Well, my husband and I found THEE one and only cure for permanently getting rid of blackberries and that was to "Release the Goats!" After the goats did their thing, stripping the thorny branches to mere nubs, we then turned out a couple of pigs. They rooted around and gobbled up the root systems. We never had a problem again AND, the pigs were delicious!

No really, that's very interesting Sagehill. That's the kind of info, most city folks have no clue about, so it's interesting to know.

And awesome story Didy. Another good example of a natural, non toxic way of dealing with a problem.

Florida could become the US bread- or rather "bug basket." Along with our semi-tropical climate comes an abundance of multi-legged creatures.

Thanks also for the clarification! Now I will think "sheep" next time I travel!

I am especially interested in this topic because I have a small farm that I try to run as sustainably as possible. Personally speaking, small farms are a far better solution for food availability and safety because they're local.... when you know the source of your food, there's traceability and accountability in a way you'll never see from agribiz factories like ADM or Cargill... or food from China. Also, small local farms feed and take care of their animals far better simply because they can't afford to lose any to sickness or death the way ag-factories can; small farms value their livestock.

There was an interesting commentary in a raw milk blog today, about how small farms will help fill food needs. And last week, the NYT had a very encouraging commentary called Cows Grazing in the Rumpus Room, about how urbanites are starting to grow as much of their own food as possible. The article has a lot of good ideas on how everyone, even those in the populated cities, can raise food. Even I got a bunch of good ideas there. And check out the comments are the end of the article.

Jenny

Good link, I like this quote "...We aren’t subsidizing farmers. We’ve been subsidizing consumers for years and years while farmers have gone broke, so we can get cheap food at the supermarkets and fast food joints."

Exactly. Even with the recent increase in prices, United States still has the cheapest food in the world... and still has lost the most farmers with USDA's "Get Big or Get Out" farm policy and agribiz subsidies for the last 40 years... small farmers get none of those subsidies, which are all based on commodities like corn and soybeans, and none for organic and grassfed foods.

However, it's encouraging that even without help small farmers are starting to make a comeback, especially with the buy-local trend now. I encourage everyone to support local farms whenever possible... starting with buying even a small apartment-sized freezer, if you don't already have one!

Jenny

Just got my freezer yesterday

Now, to find half a cow that I can afford....