BELMONT, N.C. — The City of Belmont hired some new workers earlier this spring, and they have a big job to do.
What You Need To Know
- The City of Belmont hired goats to help eat away an invasive plant species
- Green Goat Land Management, owned by Jacon Porter, provides the goats
- Porter says it’s a cost-effective option for the city
About two dozen goats will be eating away at an invasive species of plant called kudzu. Green Goat Land Management is the company providing these live weed eaters.
Jacob Porter, who started this niche business, calls himself the "Goat Whisperer." He’s based in South Carolina, but also operates in North Carolina and Georgia.
When a client needs under brush cleared, he brings the goats to them. He says for the goats, it’s not work because they just get to hang out and eat.
“A lot of people think you have to give goats a bunch of corn and all of that,” he said. "But they are born for this. They are healthy on this.”
The city says they’ll be working south of Wilkinson, near Abbey Creek, and they’ll be moved to different areas when they finish “goatscaping" their enclosure.
It’s free food for the goats, and it’s cost-effective for the city.
Porter says he charges about $10 per day, per goat, which he says is about 40 cents an hour.
"You can compare that to anyone’s labor,” he said. "They could spend somewhere between — the cheap end is $1,200, the high end is $6,000 an acre, so even if we went the low end to $1,200, then I’m half,” he said.
The goats are scheduled to be in Belmont until the late fall, but the city asks people to not pull over on the side of the road to pet them and says the goats are behind an electric fence.