Grazing goats help with local cemetery's lawn upkeep

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Schenectady's historic Vale Cemetery has a special area for green burials. It's a patch of land that is treated naturally. So who do you call when you can't mow the grass with gas powered equipment?

Andrei Rench, the livestock manager at SUNY Cobleskill explained, "So, we are using our goats here to graze around burial plots."

Twenty-two goats were called in from the school's agriculture program to help manage the overgrown foliage in a section of the cemetery dedicated to green burial plots. It's a half-acre of land where no unnatural toxins are used or gas powered equipment is allowed. Dan Bradt with the Vale Cemetery Association added, "Over here where we don't use any herbicide, it's a natural wild type area for natural burial."

So instead of hearing the motor of a lawn mower, you hear goats chomping away. It's a win-win for both the cemetery as the lawn needs are taken care of by the hungry goats.

"They'll eat 15 - 20 lbs. a day," Rench added.

The patch of natural land should be cleaned up in about four hours' time thanks to the goats. The animals will make a return to Vale Cemetery in September to help with upkeep, according to Bradt.