Paid to Graze

At 320 acres, the Lindblom family farm near Beaverlodge was at that in-between size that’s so frustrating to producers. While well-suited to raising beef cattle, the land base was too small to accommodate an economically efficient herd size.

Back in 2002, Conrad and Donna Lindblom figured something had to give. Either they’d buy more land and raise more cattle, or get out of beef altogether.

At about the same time, Conrad read about logging companies using sheep to graze unwanted vegetation on clear-cut areas that had been replanted with pine and spruce. The system worked well, except at higher elevations.

Then came this thought: what about goats, which are better adapted to this type of terrain and will eat a wider variety of vegetation? Not long after, the couple’s cattle headed to market and Rocky Ridge Vegetation Control was born. Since then, Lindblom’s goats have provided an environment-friendly grazing alternative for the Macleod Lake Indian Band, north of Prince George, B.C.

Summer pasture, plus income
“Grazing forest land with goats makes a lot of sense,” says Lindblom. “Companies usually spray Roundup to reduce the competition to the seedlings from other vegetation, but this company wanted to reduce the environmental impact of vegetation control. The goats won’t eat the spruce and pine, but they love the fireweed, willow and aspen that’s there.”

Rocky Ridge Vegetation Control began in 2004 with 400 goats, and by 2007, had 1,200 working for the firm. In addition to all the vegetation they can eat, Lindblom’s goats earn him a grazing fee per animal per day. He notes that while the goats are effective at controlling the vegetation, they don’t actually kill the plants, just set them back. Goats also add natural fertilizer to the land as they graze.

The costs associated with the business include payroll for a team of four to manage the herd on site, horses and dogs to wrangle the stock on the logging company’s freshly planted hillsides and feed and housing over winter back in Beaverlodge.

The goats graze the area from mid-May until the end of September. Each fall, the most promising animals – about 700 from the Class of 2007 – are held back as breeding stock, with the rest sold for meat at the auction market in Tofield. In effect, the operation converts unwanted vegetation into meat that’s in demand by consumers.

Lessons learned along the way
“From the beginning, we knew that we weren’t just starting a new business,” says Lindblom. “We were starting a whole new industry.”

To make his inspired idea work, Lindblom had to come to grips with many challenges in his first year or two of operation. From that experience, he offers these recommendations.

Arrange financing early. Lindblom sold his beef cattle shortly before the BSE crisis hit. Still, many financial institutions regarded anything on four hooves as risky. Getting the money side sorted out as soon as possible will allow you to focus on the rest of the business.

Do your homework. A lifelong cattle man, Lindblom needed information about goats but didn’t see much available. “There was just nobody you could call who grazed 1,000 goats,” he says. From herd husbandry to feeding practices, he read whatever he could find and learned the rest on the job.

Improve the product over time. Genetic improvement has long been a priority for beef producers. Lindblom has approached his goat herd the same way, breeding those best suited to the task and culling those that are less so. “We bought a variety of different breeds initially, but now we have a fairly uniform herd,” he says. “We have been crossing meat and dairy goats to find a meat variety that also grazes well on forested land.”

This winter, Conrad Lindblom is building a new barn for Rocky Ridge Vegetation Control’s expanding herd of goats. From December to February, he’ll be busy with kidding. A few months later, he expects to have 1,400 animals on duty in B.C., providing his logging client with an environmentally sustainable and economically viable vegetation control option.

Four years after trading cows for goats, does Lindblom have any regrets? Yes, he says, but just one. “I should have done this 20 years ago.”


Conrad and Donna Lindblom's grazing herd of 1200 goats, earn them a grazing fee per animal per day.