Weeds Got Your Goat? These Goats Will Get Your Weeds

A southeast Michigan farmer is renting out goats for environmentally friendly weed control. “They’re environmentally friendly,” says a woman who rented a dozen. “They’re just going to leave a bit of poop behind, not even anything I have to pick up.” (Photo: Twin Willow Ranch Facebook page)

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Tempting as it may be to chemically control overgrown weeds – and perhaps risk contact with poison ivy – an Ann Arbor area farmer has an environmentally friendlier and by all accounts cuter idea: He’s renting out his goats, according to a Craigslist ad.

“They leave a little poop behind,” Christine Clisham, who rented a dozen goats, told MLive/The Ann Arbor News. But that’s part of Milan farmer Mike Mourer’s hook in his Craigslist ad:

“All natural, no big machines, no pollution and they fertilize as they go,” he promises.

“People really enjoy just watching them eating. One couple rented them and ended up having a big party and had people come over and they had a cookout and watched the goats eat.” – Mike Mourer

Mourer added a tribe of goats to his menagerie at Twin Willow Ranch – a family farm growing fruits and vegetables, producing jellies and sauces, and raising meat goats, poultry, hogs, lambs, chickens and rabbits – to clear out poison ivy on his own property.

“My son and I saw that in California they use them to help clear undergrowth to prevent fires and I said, ‘well that’s not a bad idea, let’s see if we can rent some,’ ” he said.

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The goats he rented did such a good job that he acquired enough goats to begin renting them to his neighbors in 2013. Now, his tribe of about 30 is in such high demand that the goats rarely in their home pastures.

Mourer said he’s not aware of any other farmers in the area renting goats. His policy is keep them close to home, within 25-30 miles, so he can check on them frequently.

Clisham, who lives in Lodi Township, was looking for a companion animal for her donkey, who was alone after she lost her horse. In past years, the horse helped keep the pastures trim, but a wet conditions this year made weed control a Herculean task.

The goats she rented brought the weeds down to manageable size in about a week. They don’t clip the weeds close to the ground, but strip away leaves so she has a better idea of what she needs to go after with the lawn mower or brush hog.

“They’re not lawn mowers, but they like to eat at their head or above,”she said. “They’re good for clearing out brush and garbage.”

The goats are a curious attraction for Mourer’s customers.

“People really enjoy just watching them eating,” Mourer said. “One couple rented them and ended up having a big party and had people come over and they had a cookout and watched the goats eat.”