07/13/07 Environmental goats

It's true! Grazing can be beneficial to wetland areas. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute with the story. I just read an article in the Western Farmer Stockman by T. J. Burnham that related the positive results of a grazing program had on a wetlands area. The Barker Ranch Wetlands Reserve near Richland, Washington is one of the few federal wetland programs areas that can be grazed by cattle. The cattle are allowed here only because of an intensive management program that closely monitors environmental impact. Only problem was the cows wouldn't eat enough of the bulrush that was covering the ponds, so enter our re-found weed control ally and the scurge of most weed populations  grazing goats. The goats from Craig Madsen, owner of Healing Hooves of Edwal, Washington were more than happy to initiate a control on the ornery bulrush patches. Michael Crowder, manager of the wetlands area says the goats weeded out the bulrush, opened up the water in the ponds, and the ducks are coming back in amazing numbers. The cows are now able to help control the bulrush also. Now, the point of relating this article to you is to illustrate land can be used for production, in this case, grazing of animals to produce meat and still support wildlife and the environment. In fact, this example shows an increased benefit to wildlife over just allowing the wetlands to be an idle preserve. I think idle lands only produce lazy ecosystems. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Farmer Stockman July 2007