‘Controlling nature without impacting it’: GTA program uses goats to counter invasive plant species

‘Goats in the City’ is a unique opportunity for individuals, municipalities and companies to harness the power of goats. Scott Lightfoot has more.

At a small farm near King City, more than 100 goats are being raised—not for their milk or meat, but for their ability to eat.

Ian Matthews runs ‘Goats in the City’, which is actually located in the country. Matthews has been around goats all of his life, and a few years ago when his aging father needed help tending to the animals, Matthews quit his job to take over the farm.

“I was in finance and mortgage brokering and all that,” Matthews told CTV News Toronto. “They say when you love something you always come back. I just tried to figure out how I can make a living out of it, because I love being with the goats—love connecting with them.”

From the small pen of kids just a few months old, that bleat with excitement and clumsily climb all over each other when Matthews approaches, to a herd of full grown goats who follow his every step when he enters their field, it’s clear Matthews has connected with the animals.

Now, he’s using the animals to take on a problem faced by city dwellers and country folk alike: invasive plant species.

“We use goats to control vegetation, especially invasive plants like buckthorn, phragmites, and thistles,” said Matthews.

“There’s a crisis with these plants right now and in Europe and Asia where these plants originated, they use goats to control them. We brought the plants here, but we didn’t bring the goats.”

Now, Matthews brings the goats to the areas with invasive plant issues, and lets them loose to do what they do best.

“Goats can eat what most animals won’t,” Matthews explained. “They will even eat things that will hurt other animals and still be fine with it.”

From plants with spikes, to plants that are poisonous, goats have no issue mowing them down.

‘Goats in the City’ has been embraced by municipalities, companies, even private citizens, all in need of assistance in removing unwanted invasive growth.

Toronto was one of the first municipalities in Ontario to begin a prescribed goat grazing project. Last year, goats from ‘Goats in the City’ were put to work in the meadow area at the Evergreen Brickworks.

“We have to maintain healthy ecosystems for them to be sustainable,” said Cheryl Post, a Natural Environment Specialist with the City of Toronto. “Meadow ecosystems are particularly important because they’re relatively rare in urban environments and they have their own niche of import species.”

Many of those species were delicious favourites for the goats last year, and on June 10 and 11, the program will return.

“Goat grazing helps reduce the spread of woody and invasive species that can threaten the meadow,” said Post.

“They eat woody species that are encroaching and actually render invasive seeds inviable after they eat them. Over time, they can help the native species regeneration and soil quality, really they’re just an exciting addition to our overall management toolkit.”

Members of the public can view the herd of working goats as they chomp their way through the meadow from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. both days. Educational talks will be held at noon, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

While the goats will be working during their visit to Toronto, Matthews likens it more to simply going out for lunch.

“They’re doing what they do naturally. We’re not forcing our goats, we don’t use them for milk, we don’t use them for meat... we just let them do what they do.”

Matthews says he’s planning an expansion of the ‘Goats in the City’ program, and has already begun working with other municipalities and government organizations on places the goats can graze to help improve the local environment.

“It’s about controlling nature without impacting it,” he said. “Learn from nature and pay attention.”