The City of Victor Harbor team has been trialling the use of goats to help control invasive weeds.

The goats were fenced into a Mount Jagged reserve for a period of time where they could graze freely, and help to reduce the amount of blackberry in the area.

Blackberry is a sprawling, semi-deciduous shrub with arching, prickly or thornless canes. It is a declared weed in the Fleurieu Peninsula region. 

The plants are difficult to control and often require repeat treatments of herbicide spraying to stop them growing into a dense thicket of canes.

The council says it is always investigating innovative ways to improve the work it does.

“Using goats to control weed growth can assist traditional control methods and enable efficient, sustainable reserve management. 

“A major advantage of goats is that, unlike some machinery or herbicides, they can potentially control brush and weeds without contaminating or disturbing existing grass and soil.”

The council expects that using goats as a tool to reduce biomass will greatly reduce the need for herbicide treatments, and therefore limit impact on native sedges.

With the trial complete, the next stage is for council staff to assess its effectiveness compared to other control methods and whether it had any adverse effects.