More and more people are imagining a career in targeted goat grazing.
Don’t laugh. It’s a thing.
A one-day course, Goat Handling for Beginners and Experienced operators, is set for April 28 in Chilliwack at the UFV Ag Centre of Excellence.
Participants will get to watch a targeted goat grazing session, and gain hands-on experience towards career in vegetation management.
For this course, goat handler Conrad Lindblom, owner of Rocky Ridge Vegetation Control, will be in town to show students some goat handling tricks, working with his dogs to keep the animals together.
It’s a follow-up to the four-day course on Targeted Goat Grazing held in February. This demo will show how the goats can be put to work on weed-eating in a specific area with just some fencing and the dogs.
People can start up a small business with as few as 30 to 50 goats. Weed control using hungry goats is seen as a less toxic alternative to herbicides, and in some cases preferable. It’s a way to handle invasive plant species, since goats are naturally prolific weed eaters.
“As a result of our course earlier in the spring we have a handful of Fraser Valley folks who are very interested in developing targeted grazing as a business, so this demo is to support those students and any others from the general public interested in targeted grazing either for vegetation management on their own land, or as a possible business opportunity,” said Ag professor Renée Prasad.
The course will be at the Agricultural Centre of Excellence, CEP Bldg V. To register the fee is $85. For more details, 1-888-823-8734. The course code is 20393. Email parttimetrades@ufv.ca or 604-847-5451