A bushfire mitigation trial which has goats chewing their way through hectares of bushfire fuel in the State’s west, has recruited more of the honorary four-legged firefighters and increased its count from 40 to over 100 goats.
The joint trial between the NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS), Crown Lands and Local Land Services follows a recommendation made by the Independent Bushfire Inquiry into the Black Summer bushfires of 2019/20.
In a statement, Crown Lands said the goats were put to work on Crown land near Mudgee in the Central West, Coolatai in North Western NSW and Rosewood in the Riverina.
The Agency said a 50-strong goat herd was strip grazing a 2.3-hectare block of land on the western edge of Coolatai, chewing its way through heavy vegetation in areas that were difficult to clear through traditional hazard reduction techniques.
“The area has been divided into seven blocks, which the herd will graze for approximately six to eight weeks,” Crown Lands said.
“It is estimated the goats will chew through about a quarter of a hectare of dense vegetation in two weeks and medium density vegetation in one week,” it said.
“Near Mudgee, another herd of 40 goats has been chewing through hectares of fuel loads on land including at Clandulla and Lue.”
Crown Lands said the goats were particularly useful in terrain where conventional mitigation methods, such as burning or mechanical clearing, proved challenging.
The Agency said that, in Rosewood, about 20 goats were being used in a trial over a four-week period.
“Goats are also used in California, Spain and Portugal to supplement hazard reduction burns, which are weather dependent, unlike goats,” it said.
Commissioner for NSW RFS, Rob Rogers said grazing would mitigate against grass fires, particularly in areas where mitigation crews and local brigades found it hard to reduce fuel loads.
“This grazing trial has seen remarkable progress in reducing fuel loads in the Clandulla area and we’re keen for this to continue in the area,” Commissioner Rogers said.
