Goats go a-grazing…

Whatever happened to Britain’s goats? Goats have lived in Britain for over 5000 years, but today there’s far fewer of them than sheep, cows or pigs. Why is that? Well, lots of reasons have been put forward. The rise of the Medieval wool trade meant sheep were favoured for their valuable fleeces. The change from commons grazing to enclosures – containing animals in fields – did not suit the goat. Goats are masters of escapology! And their curiosity can get them into all sorts of trouble. Over time, goats began to be viewed as difficult to manage. Milk and meat could be produced more economically from cows and sheep, and thus the goat ended up on the periphery of Britain’s agricultural landscape.

Today, many goats in Britain are housed indoors year-round, and our goats too would choose the barn over a wet, windy or cold pasture. But in pleasant weather, our goats love nothing more than to browse outdoors as part of a herd. We dream of our goats grazing the rolling downlands, providing an important role in the management of our ancient chalk grasslands. It’s true though, that their inquisitive nature can soon get them into a pickle! Electric fencing has been a must to keep them safe and secure, but goats need fresh grazing often and setting up fencing can be a good half day’s work for two people. What’s to be done?

Enter modern technology! Would you believe that livestock can now be managed using a virtual fence? Using an app, you can draw a virtual fence in your field. Then, put special collars on your animals and train them to respond to an audio warning. Goats are very intelligent, you know! You can then monitor and move your animals from your phone – anytime, anywhere! Next time our goats are grazing our sun-kissed downlands, will they be managed with virtual fences? Watch this space…

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