The town of Rocanville will be giving some goats a try in a bid to control weeds in parts of town where it’s hard to manage weeds. At the town council meeting on Wednesday, the town decided to partner with SJ Townside Acres of Rocanville to use around 18 of their goats to eat weeds in a few key areas of town.
“We are going to try and use them as an environmentally friendly weed control,” says Town Administrator Tanya Strandlund. “The first area will be the walking trail. It’s tough to mow in there because there are so many mosquitoes in there, and it’s so wet. We are going to work with them and have the goats in there cleaning the trails up. Goats are extremely drawn to invasive species and weeds first, and their digestive track does not allow the seeds to re-germinate, so they are good for weed control.”
Strandlund said it would be a temporary partnership, and the goats would not permanently on town property. They would also be monitored while they do their work and contained to a very specific area. “If it works well, we are going to use it in future,” she says.
She says the town may also try the goats around the retention pond as well and other spots around town like drainage ditches that are weed aggressive.
