Managed grazing is a creative and elegant solution for removing weeds, creating healthier soil, and reducing fire risk. In addition to these environmental benefits, City Grazing is committed to improving our communities through education, hiring from historically underserved populations, and other partnerships and programs. Below are just a few of the reasons to support our work!
Fire Risk Reduction
Grazing immediately removes potential fire fuel in the form of weeds and brush. Additionally, by promoting deeper root development in perennial plants, grazing leads to more water stored in the earth, greater drought tolerance, and, therefore, improved fire resistance. For more information about our work to keep the Bay Area safer from fires, check out this recent news story, City Grazing is working to keep SF safe from fires.
Weed Removal
Many of the Bay Area’s most undesirable plants are happily eaten by goats! These include stubborn species like English Ivy, Cape Ivy, Himalayan blackberry, poison oak, fennel, Scotch Broom, and French Broom, just to name a few. Grazing also discourages weeds by sterilizing their seeds as they pass through goat digestive systems.
Improvements to Soil
Managed grazing supercharges the soil! Goats convert unwanted plant material and fire fuel into pellets of immediately bioavailable soil nutrients. No composting is required and nutrients return directly to the topsoil.
Support for Native Plants
Grazing encourages regrowth of perennial native plants by removing weeds that compete with them, as well as by promoting healthy, deep root development in native perennials.
Carbon Sequestration
Carbon sequestration is an important component in the fight against climate change. Because managed grazing causes deeper, healthier root systems in native perennials, these plants are able to pull more carbon from the air for storage in soil.
Community Well-Being
Who doesn’t love goats?! Bay Area residents tell us over and over that they love seeing our goats in action grazing in urban settings. Contact with goats facilitates a sense of well-being and provides a wonderful opportunity for environmental education. City Grazing also inspires our community with public appearances, school visits, and social events.
Workforce Development
Hiring from underserved and at-risk communities has always been a guiding principle of our organization. We exclusively hire locally, provide valuable skills training, pay living wages, and create an environment where character can shine through work with both animals and clients. Our herd is housed in San Francisco’s Bayview, and we are very proud that our base of operations is in a neighborhood we strive to serve.
A Home for Goats in Need
Our herd consists entirely of goats that needed rescue or a new home. Some of them are retired dairy goats, in some cases the previous owners were not able to keep them anymore, and in others the goats were rescued to avoid becoming part of the meat industry. We socialize and integrate newly adopted goats into the herd to be sure they’ll be happy working closely with the public in urban grazing settings.