GOATS, SHEEP HELP CONSERVATION EFFORTS AT SHERBURNE COUNTY PARK By Trent Abrego | St. Cloud LIVE ZIMMERMAN, Minn. — In an effort to restore native prairie habitat at Grams Regional Park, two Sherburne County organizations have collaborated to receive a grant that has been used for a number of different restoration efforts. That includes conservation grazing by 200 to 400 goats and sheep. “(It’s) an organic method of preparing a site for native prairie restoration is conservation grazing,” said Gina Hugo, parks coordinator for the Sherburne County Parks and Recreation Department. “So we, essentially, want the animals to wreck a pasture to help by eating it down to just the nub. “They ate it right down to the soil and we did that three times now.” The program focused on restoring and enhancing diverse native habitat while benefiting pollinators and insects. The first grazing was in mid-August 2022 and that continued for a number of other instances, according to Hugo and Frances Gerdes, who served as the project organizer and planner with the Sherburne County Soil and Water Conservation District. Most recently, those animals returned in the spring to trample in native seed that was installed and graze down any of the unwanted vegetation, according to Gerdes. And, there’s a possibility that the goats and sheep will return next spring to open up the canopy and allow for further germination, Gerdes said. While the prescribed burn, three conservation grazing sessions and seeding has been completed, the project will continue to develop. “Prairies evolved over many, many years and they are always changing. They’re really dynamic and they always need that disturbance regime, and so that’s something we’ll continue to monitor,” Hugo said.
Benefits of grazing
Grazing is thought to be re-emerging, according to Hugo. “(Grazing) is something that maybe used to be done before we had synthetic chemicals and before we had gas-powered cultivation. I think animals were probably used pretty regularly to eat down an area and then Page 22 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
Contributed / Sherburne County
Goats graze at Grams Regional Park in Sherburne County as part of the park’s prairie restoration project.
convert the vegetation type,” Gerdes said. “But, now it’s reemerging for areas that want to avoid chemical application and can’t do mechanical site prep.” The park is highly used by people walking their dogs or children playing, Gerdes said. “It’s just too steep of ground to work or mow or do anything with equipment. So this was a great way because goats and sheep are pretty agile. They can work steep slopes without any problems,” Gerdes said. Throughout the process, Hugo said they saw more benefit with sheep grazing as opposed to goats, because the former typically does a better job on grassy types of vegetation. The animals used for conservation grazing were contracted by Minnesota Native Landscapes. “Having an experienced herdsman or herds company is really valuable in knowing what kind of animals and what kind of densities to apply,” Hugo said. Before the grazing took place first last summer, a prescribed fire burn was conducted in July of that year, to prevent bush and trees from overtaking the prairie and the buildup of dead vegetation that encourages weeds. “Once a prairie is more established, we usually say that’s about three to five years. Then after that, some kind of disturbance regime happens … So a fire one year, grazing one year, maybe mowing one year and continuing on throughout the life of the prairie,” Hugo said.
Efforts aimed toward helping at-risk species This past spring, planting took place as part of the
