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Lee family (from left), Tanner and Faithe, Elias and Weston,
stand with their Spanish-Boer goat herd near Choteau,
Mont. The Lee family has been raising and grazing goats
for 12 years in north central Montana and use them
for weed management as well as meat production.
Photo by Sara Young
to control weeds," says Mangold. "One might combine
herbicide usage with targeted grazing or use targeted
grazing where one can't use herbicides. It depends on the
situation and the land use objectives."
This is exactly what Faithe Lee of Choteau has in mind
when she contracts her Spanish-Boer goats to graze
weeds in Choteau and on Malstrom Air Force base.
"I graze my goats on the well sites of Choteau," she
explains. "They can't use herbicides there, and my goats
eat the hounds tongue and spurge when they are in the
bloom stage."
Lee has been raising goats for 12 years and began
contracting them for weed management a few years ago.
"They pay me to graze my goats there," she says. "In
Choteau, I do all the management - I put up the fence
and move the goats, but at Malstrom, I contract with
another goat producer and they hire a herder to live with
the goats on base. It has worked out well."
