Project Overview
Information Products
Commodities
Practices
- Animal Production: grazing management
- Farm Business Management: value added
Summary:
Problem Addressed:
The cost of ownership of goat has increased by about 60% since 2020, when the pandemic occurred and inflation increased significantly along with several years of drought putting additional pressures on hay demand and pricing. In this project, we will explore the feasibility of reducing the cost of goat livestock ownership, by introducing a goat brush clearing service to increase revenue to mitigate these increasing costs.
Small meat goat herders, with herd sizes around 80 - 120 goats, have been looking for a viable solution to add revenue generating services to supplement a farms meat goat operation. This project will research if adding a brush clearing service is a viable solution for small scale goat farms.
Project's Research and Education Approach:
We established a goat brush clearing business and assessed customer demand for goat brush clearing, kept track of expenses for operating this business (including feed cost savings), and assessed the rate of brush clearing. We shared with field days and presentations.
Research Conclusions:
Overall, there are many variables that can impact the question, Is Goat Brush Clearing a Viable Business for small herds? Based on our research, it can be a viable service for a goat herds person to add to their farm. Location of service area, demand in the area, price needed per job or acre, equipment needed to start are economic factors that impact viability. Vegetation type, terrain, and weather are some environmental factors that can impact scheduling and viability. During our project we were able to be viable in our second year, as we continued to learn lessons that we will apply in future years. Goat Brush clearing can be a viable business solution for small scale farmers.
Farmer Adoption:
In addition to our business, based on the research project and data we collected and shared with local goat ranchers, two ranchers are starting a target grazing business in our local area in 2026. One of the farmers, actively trained at a couple projects that were had in 2025, and was able to collect his own data to access how he will be able to make this service viable for his herd of goats.
Project objectives:
Solution:
In our research we are wanting to see if goat brush clearing is a viable resource to increase revenue for the small farmer in Central Indiana.
Traditionally, brush clearing is performed using heavy equipment like tractors, skid steer, etc and rely on the use of carbon fueled vehicles. The solution we have would be to introduce goats to the area for a more sustainable, regenerative and efficient way of brush clearing. In order to reduce the use heavy equipment, nonrenewable resources, and hours of human labor needed for various jobs.
Materials / Equipment needed for the solution:
In addition to the goats that will perform the actual brush clearing there are other materials and resources needed. Some of these supporting materials or resources are a livestock trailer, a portable electric fence system, fencing material, hay, food and water containers, PPE such as gloves and closed toed shoes, and hand tools such as hammer, screw drivers, and portable power tools. Most of the materials and equipment needed are already acquired and in possession with the exception of a livestock trailer, to met the capacity of the herd that will need to be transported, and portable electric fencing. With these materials the brush clearing service will be able to be flexible and adjust to varying sized jobs.
Update for progress reporting:
Under materials and equipment we made the assumption that we would still need to feed both hay and grain. However, what we have learned is that while out on a job the objective is for the goats to to clear brush and in a more aggressive manner. So we cut hay and feed to get the grazing results our clients are looking for in a short time frame. With this we save on both hay and feed bringing our cost down, one of our goals going into targeted brush clearing.
Method of Sustainable Practice:
The handler of the goats will measure the size of the lot and create a brush clearing layout plan. The portable fencing will be setup prior to introducing goats into the area that needs to be cleared. While the goats are performing the brush clearing assignment, they will be rotated through the areas sequentially to clear the brush in a systematic fashion. The size of the land needing to be clear will provide a reference for the size of the paddock created to promote high density grazing.
Objective:
- Identify if there is a demand or appetite for brush clearing using goats in residential, commercial, and municipal locations.
During our research, we seen there is a need and interest in utilizing goats/livestock for target grazing services. Over the two (2) seasons of researching the demand for targeted grazing, we received 32 inquiries for target grazing service. From the 32 total inquires for service, 2 were from corporate or commercial businesses, 8 were from residential location with under an acre inside of the city limits, and the remaining 22 inquiries were from properties over an acre outside of the city limits and 2 were outside of our affiliate network territory and passed along to the corresponding affiliate.
From the 32 total inquires, we were able to contract and service 18 customers for a success rate of 56%.
- To learn if goat clearing can bring in revenue for the small scale farmer to be able to off set the cost of livestock.
During the two (2) years of our research, we were able to complete and serve 18 customers earning $29,247.50 in revenue. The cost to serve these customers was $14,840.85. The direct profit from adding this service was $14,406.65 or 49.2%.
There is an additional cost saving from not having to buy feed for the herd while they are working. At our farm, the daily feed cost is about $23 daily (grain ~$13, hay ~$10), this estimate can vary slightly depending on the pasture health and feed price. The herd was off property for 132 day saving an additional $3,036.
In the first year we did not cover the cost to feed our herd for the year. During the second year of our research, we were able to cover the cost of livestock and have an additional $2,000 to return to the farm.
Things to consider on viability to offset livestock cost; herd size during winter, kidding season and kids planning (keep, sell), herd management goals. These factors will vary depending on operational goals and outside the scope of our research.
- Evaluate the rate of brush clearing by goats.
There are many variables that impact the rate in which a herd of goats can target graze or clear land. For consistency of our report and due to the average size of properties serviced, we will reference one (1) acre as the lot size.
The main variables to consider when thinking about the rate goat targeted graze or clear one acre of land are; density of the vegetation, type of vegetation, diversity of vegetation, topography or terrain, temperature, precipitation, fencing layout, herd size and herd age and gender. Our grazing herd consisted exclusively of female goats.
We observed a female herd of Kiko (breed) goats 9 months and older with herd size of 30 to 40 goats, will clear an acre of medium density in 5 to 8 days on average. During the peak heat of the summer we observed grazing efficiencies to decrease by 50% to 100%, primarily grazing from late evening to the mid-morning, resting during the heat of the day.
- Share our findings with other farmers and ag professionals via, social media, field days and other farm related workshops and events.
The findings for the research was shared with 34 people who attended on of the two field days that were hosted. There were 3 Ag professionals in attendance. The progress of the research was shared with 3 USDA professionals, 2 Purdue extension professionals, and 3 Indiana invasive or conservancy organization leaders. The findings of the research was shared with over 10 farmers with locations ranging from Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.