April 16, 2021 | Kelli Bender | TomKat Ranch
Fire Fighting Goats Deployed at TomKat Ranch
This April 2021, TomKat partnered with Lani Malmberg, founder and owner of Goatapelli, a goat grazing service, to work on fire mitigation using natural systems.
On the heels of the third driest year on record, TomKat Ranch has teamed up with Goatapelli Foundation and their herd of 26th generation “browsers” (animals that prefer brush, weeds, and woody matter to grass) to remove dry, parched vegetation from the landscape to promote conditions in which wildfires will not start as easily or spread as rapidly.
Goat hooves also play an important role in creating soil that is healthy and holds air and moisture. When they stomp around, they aerate the soil and trample plant matter aiding the breakdown of nutrients by fungi and bacteria and boosting soil health including its potential for water retention – particularly important when vegetation moisture levels are low. To read more about other ecological benefits of goat grazing, see the interview with the Executive Director of The Goatapelli Foundation Lani Malmberg here.
At TomKat Ranch, we encourage everyone to take fire fuel reduction seriously and do so in ecological-friendly ways.
Goats to the rescue at TomKat Ranch from TomKat Ranch on Vimeo.