In 2017, my grandparents, Debbie and Jim Rand, and their neighbors, Peter and Cynthia Ruen, started the Driftless Goat Co. The company started with two goats, Brownie and Coco, with the hope of steering farmers away from chemicals to get rid of weeds.

There are now 21 goats that live in Lanesboro, Minnesota. Goats get jobs on farmland and clear away grown-out weeds and grass. The task is suitable for goats because they only eat what they can digest, train well to electric fences and come running to their goatherder’s call.

“We’re still working on building, but the health and well-being of the herd is our primary concern,” Peter Ruan explained to the Fillmore County Journal. “Out of that, we’re getting a grazing powerhouse.”

The company gets its goats from local families that breed for 4-H and the Minnesota State Fair. The owners hope to start breeding their own goats and having them work when they are young until they retire. A quarter of the goats are female.

For more information visit their website. 

The picture above sh0ws a few goats; the rest were out on a job.