This week, a dozen hungry goats were herded onto the banks of the Erie Canal in Greece Canal Park. Their mission was to eat their way through the thick brush and overgrowth that's taken over a stretch of embankment.
The goats were hired by the New York State Canal Corporation, which is testing out a new way to manage vegetation: letting goats do what goats do best.
“They love foraging. They love anything green. They love poison ivy,” said Allison Sherman, owner of Kaizen Ridge Farms, who provided the goats. “This is what they’re made to do.”
Sherman has over 100 goats at her farm, though she admits she didn’t even touch a goat until a few years ago.
“I'd never touched a goat before the pandemic,” she laughed. “Now we have a little over 100.”
Goats are uniquely good at this job. They can navigate the steep terrain, eradicate poison ivy and thorny bushes, and leave behind natural fertilizer — all without burning fossil fuels or damaging the land with heavy equipment.
The Canal Corporation hopes this pilot project will do more than just tidy things up. Overgrown vegetation can hide small leaks and seeps in the embankments. Once the brush is cleared, inspectors will have a better view to spot potential structural issues.
“This is an experiment to see if goats really are the G.O.A.T. when it comes to maintaining the Erie Canal’s embankments,” said Jackie Schillinger, a spokesperson for the Canal Corporation.
The goat crew will stay in their temporary enclosure along the embankment for up to four weeks, although Sherman suspects they might finish the job a lot sooner.
“They just eat and eat and eat. Then they rest. Then they eat some more,” she said.
The project is being conducted in partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute.
