Source: CORNELL UNIVERSITY submitted to
CONTROLLING INTERFERING FOREST VEGETATION WHILE ENHANCING MEAT GOAT PRODUCTION IN THE NORTHEAST
Sponsoring Institution
State Agricultural Experiment Station
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
STATE
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0190885
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
NYC-147359
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
May 1, 2001
Project End Date
Apr 30, 2006
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Smallidge, P. J.
Recipient Organization
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ITHACA,NY 14853
Performing Department
NATURAL RESOURCES
Non Technical Summary
Woodlot owners and meat goat producers have production barriers that might be mutually resolved through an improved working relationship. We hope to enhance woodland management and meat goat production in the Northeast. This project examines how forests respond to browsing by meat goats, and those factors that will optimize the profitability of using goats to control woodland vegetation.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1230620107020%
1250620107020%
3073820101020%
6013820101020%
6050620107020%
Knowledge Area
123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources; 125 - Agroforestry; 307 - Animal Management Systems; 605 - Natural Resource and Environmental Economics; 601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management;

Subject Of Investigation
3820 - Goats, meat, and mohair; 0620 - Broadleaf forests of the North;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology; 1010 - Nutrition and metabolism;
Goals / Objectives
The two fundamental objectives of this project are the (1) establishment of a research protocol that will optimize weight gain and profitability of meat goats used in woodlot vegetation management and (2) demonstration/outreach of pilot study results to inform meat goat producers and woodlot owners who might participate as an additional demonstration area and/or expand their goat production systems to include woodlot browsing. The validity of this project is substantiated by (i) stable or increasing demand for northeastern goat meat; (ii) three years of pilot study which have identified specific and researchable questions related to meat goat production; (iii) interest by meat goat producers, woodlot owners, and cooperative extension agents in formalizing their knowledge of the production system. This project builds on our experiences from a woodland-goat pilot effort conducted from 1998 - 2000 at the Cornell University Arnot Teaching and Research Forest. This project was initiated to determine the woodland browse preference of goats with an emphasis on forestry operations. We used juvenile and mature goats in 30+ quarter-acre paddocks in sugar bush and hardwood sawtimber stands. These were reasonably typical hardwood forests, with a well developed understory of interfering woody species (i.e., beech and striped maple). The pilot study, with its forestry emphasis, gives strong encouragement for a management system that will control interfering vegetation, and identified researchable questions about the feeding system and stocking rate that will optimize goat weight gain and thus profitability for goat producers.
Project Methods
RESEARCH: Pilot study observations identified the information gaps blocking widespread success and adoption of this technology as feeding systems and stocking rate. In order to discover an optimum set of procedures, we propose to randomly assign 100 goats among replicates of 4 experimental treatments. One or two of the experimental treatment combinations would be used in the goat producer/woodlot owner team demonstration areas. These 4 treatments will be arranged factorially to represent: Two feeding systems: 1) Continuous woodland browsing with 0.75 lbs per head per day grain-based supplement, moved to a new paddock every 7 days or when browse is eliminated 2) No supplementation, rotating woodland browsing for 7 days followed by moderate to high quality pasture for 14 days. Two stocking rates: 1) 5 goats per 0.25 acre paddock (equivalent of 20 goats/acre) and 2) 20 goats per 0.25 acre paddock (equivalent of 80 goats/acre). The resulting four treatments are: A) Supplemented continuous browsing, 5 head/paddock [10 goats]; B) Supplemented continuous browsing, 20 head/paddock [40 goats]; C) Rotation, 5 head/paddock [10 goats]; D) Rotation, 20 head per paddock [40 goats]. In addition, 10 goats at each site will be fed a ration permitting maximal growth to serve as a control reference for the field performance of experimental goats. This permits expression of field performance as a percent of biological potential, a very useful theoretical concept and even more important for use in outreach efforts. Response variables will include initial and weekly weights, internal parasite loads, maintenance costs per goat (feed, rotational transport, etc.), sale weight and sale price per goat, and mortality of interfering woody vegetation. Biomass quantity and quality data will include clipping plots to determine average available biomass and nutritional quality, plus the development of regressions to predict biomass per sapling by species based on stem diameter. Diameter regressions will facilitate predictions of paddock biomass through standard forestry sampling protocols. Data related to interfering vegetation will include species, density, stem diameter, girdling extent, seedling establishment, litter layer disturbance, and root/butt scarring. One-hundred twenty-five goats will be purchased each year for research with the opportunity to cull approximately 15 for poor health or related reasons. OUTREACH and EDUCATION: Outreach will occur through existing animal production extension events, through field days at the demonstration areas, and through fact sheets and articles developed for distribution through Cooperative Extension outlets and producer/landowner associations. During the first year field days and through our existing networks, we will identify at least four goat producer and woodlot owner teams that might serve during each of the second and third project years as additional demonstration areas on private lands. The goat producer/woodlot owner/county agent teams will be pivotal in delivering field days at their woodland-goat demonstration area.

Progress 05/01/01 to 04/30/06

Outputs
The project continued on schedule with all milestones reached. One presentation was given to a group of biologists from an assortment of state agencies interested in vegetation management strategies to enhance bog turtle habitat. No additional new activities were initiated during the reporting period. Previously, experiments of goat nutrition and forest vegetation response were conducted at the Arnot Teaching and Research Forest. Three off-site research and demonstration collaborator teams were established, one each in Cattaraugus, Chemung, and Sullivan counties. A number of field days and presentations were hosted, including events at the off-site locations, and reached several key audiences including CCE educators, goat producers, forest owners, foresters, and students.

Impacts
Goat producers, forest owners, and others with an interest in the use of livestock for vegetation management will be able to better assess the relative utility of goats in forest settings. Producers who use goats in their own woods will have access to nutrition information that will optimize meat goat weight gains. Forest owners who use or allow goats in their woods will be able to predict the duration of treatment necessary to achieve specific management objectives.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04

Outputs
This 3-year project was initiated to determine how to enhance meat goat production while using the goats to control woody interfering plants in mature forests. Goats were placed in hardwood forests, with a well-developed understory of interfering woody species. Goat health and weight gain were good, control of vegetation varied by species and depended on animal age and the quality of the supplemental feed. With supplemental feed at 2 percent of body weight, juvenile goats can gain weight while consuming interfering vegetation, and weight gains that include post-woods compensatory gains are comparable to control animals. Preferences for plant species are reflected in varying degrees of control. When pressed, goats will strip bark from most species, but with appropriate protocols, bark stripping (i.e., girdling) can be controlled. Goats can be managed to emphasize girdling of: stripped maple, eastern hophornbeam, alternate-leaf dogwood, hemlock, red maple, and some diameters of American beech. Under most circumstances, goats will not girdle: sugar maple, red oak, black cheery, or aspen. The cost per acre for control of vegetation depends on the number of goats and how they are managed. Net costs (including labor) are comparable to herbicide treatment with a range of $100 to $150 per acre depending on the specific treatment the goat producers uses. Forest owners with small parcels (less than 10 acres of treatment per year) or those with a desire or need to minimize the use of herbicides should consider using goats for vegetation control. Goat producers with inadequate land and adequate time to manage off-site herds, or goat producers with mature herds and who seek added income, are the most likely prospects for providing goat control of vegetation. Goat producers can use goats in their own woods, without damaging the long-term health and sustainability of the forest by providing a daily supplement if forage quality is poor and with regular movements of the herd to portions of the forest with adequate forage.

Impacts
Goat producers, forest owners, and others with an interest in the use of livestock for vegetation management will be able to better assess the relative utility of goats in forest settings. Producers who use goats in their own woods will have access to nutrition information that will optimize meat goat weight gains. Forest owners who use or allow goats in their woods will be able to predict the duration of treatment necessary to acheive specific management objectives.

Publications

  • Bryant, DL and PJ Smallidge. 2002. Goats in the woods webpage. www.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/goatsinthewoods
  • Parsons, C, T Stanton, and PJ Smallidge. 2002. Research collaborators handbook for the goats in the woods project. Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
  • Smallidge, PJ. 2003. Profiling candidates for goats in the woods - an Extension fact sheet. Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.


Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02

Outputs
The project continued on schedule with all milestones reached. Experiments of goat nutrition and forest vegetation response were conducted at the Arnot Teaching and Research Forest. Three off-site research and demonstration collaborator teams were established, one each in Cattaraugus, Chemung, and Sullivan counties. A number of field days and presentations were hosted, including events at the off-site locations, and reached several key audiences including CCE educators, goat producers, forest owners, foresters, and students.

Impacts
Goat producers, forest owners, and others with an interest in the use of livestock for vegetation management will be able to better assess the relative utility of goats in forest settings. Producers who use goats in their own woods will have access to nutrition information that will optimize meat goat weight gains. Forest owners who use or allow goats in their woods will be able to predict the duration of treatment necessary to acheive specific management objectives.

Publications

  • Parsons, C., Stanton, t. and Smallidge, PJ. 2002. Goats in the woods: research and extension team member collaborator workbook. Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 46 pages.