Before Conrad Lindblom begins a conversation, he wants to know if you have goats to sell.
Lindblom needs to buy another 1,000 goats in the next month to take to the northern British Columbia cut blocks for grazing.
It’s not uncommon to use sheep to graze the grasses and shrubs around the newly planted trees on the mountains of B.C. It’s less common to see domestic goats in the mountains.
Lindblom began grazing goats on forestry cut blocks three years ago. With the border closed because of BSE, the Beaverlodge, Alta., farmer had to find another way to add value to his flock of goats.
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In the first year he convinced Chetwynd Forest Industries to let him graze 400 goats on a cut block as a trial grazing project. It was so successful, he returned last year with 800 goats.
Unlike sheep, goats will graze more woody type trees like alder and aspen, but leave the pine and spruce alone.
“They eat a wide variety of vegetation,” he said.
This year, the company wants 1,200 goats and another nearby forest company also wants Lindblom to provide 1,200 goats for grazing.
“It’s kind of snowballing on us,” he said.
Once an area is logged, it must be replanted. It’s difficult for the slower growing spruce and pine to compete with the woody shrubs and plants. Forestry companies use a number of ways to keep the vegetation under control, but in environmentally sensitive areas around water, animals are preferred.
“It’s just a different tool for the silviculture industry to use,” said Lindblom who will take the goats to the cut blocks for about 120 days from mid-May to mid-September. He is paid per head per day.
One year, he tried mixing sheep and goats on the cut block, but the combination didn’t work.
“The goats are better to handle,” said Lindblom who prefers to use mainly Boer goats or a Boer cross.
In the fall, the culls and bucks are sold.
Lindblom said he doesn’t have any trouble hiring people to spend a summer in the mountains.
“It’s a beautiful way to have a holiday.”
