Goats on the Go: renting herds to eat weeds on land machines can't reach

Aaron Steele and Chad Steenhoek were hobby farmers in Ames, Iowa, with a herd of meat goats they had grown attached to. Around them, parks, schools and homeowners were fighting weeds, brush and invasive species on terrain too steep or too sensitive for mowers, machinery and herbicides — exactly the stuff goats eat.

Sell grazing as a service: park a rented herd on overgrown land behind a solar fence and let appetite clear it, with affiliates running herds in their own regions.

The friends launched Goats on the Go in 2012 as a 'targeted grazing' operation: instead of selling the goats, they brought the herd to the job, fenced the site with a portable solar-powered electric fence to keep goats in and predators out, and let the animals strip the unwanted vegetation over several days. The work ranged from parks and school-district grounds to steep residential backyards, with affiliates typically charging about $900 to $1,200 an acre depending on density. When inquiries arrived from customers too far away to serve from Ames, the founders began enlisting affiliate owners in 2016, training them in fencing, herd care and quoting and supporting them through a shared Facebook group.

The affiliate model took a local curiosity national: by 2023 the founders said the network had grown to about 60 affiliates, mostly across the Midwest, clearing everything from Cass County parkland and suburban yards to fire-prone brush out west. Customers consistently reported the goats finished what hand crews could not — one county parks director called the thoroughness 'a heck of a job' — while homeowners treated the visiting herd as entertainment as much as landscaping.

In 2012 Aaron Steele and Chad Steenhoek, hobby farmers in Ames, Iowa, found themselves with a herd of meat goats they had planned to sell and then could not bear to part with. Around the same time, parks departments, schools and homeowners were struggling with weeds, brush and invasive plants on land that was too steep, too wet or too sensitive for mowing equipment and herbicide — vegetation that goats eat by instinct.

The pair's answer was to sell grazing as a service. Goats on the Go moved the herd onto the job site, enclosed it with a portable solar-powered electric fence that kept the goats in and predators out, and let the animals clear the land over several days of eating, resting and repeating. Affiliates typically charged about $900 to $1,200 an acre depending on vegetation density, and jobs ranged from county parks to steep residential hillsides that homeowners had been unable to tackle for years.

The founders kept the business in Ames until far-away inquiries forced a different structure: in 2016 they began signing up affiliate owners who ran their own herds under the Goats on the Go brand. Headquarters supplied training in fencing, herd health and quoting, plus a private Facebook group where owners shared problems. The network grew to about 60 affiliates by 2023, mostly in the Midwest, taking the same playbook to parks, campuses, backyards and even wildfire-prone brushland across the country.

Targeted grazing solved a real gap: brush and weeds on steep or sensitive land where mowers cannot go and herbicide is unwelcome.

Renting the herd removed the customer's ownership burden entirely — no goats, no fencing, no feed, no vet bills — just cleared land.

Solar-powered portable fencing made each job self-contained and safe, letting the service run in parks and residential yards alike.

The affiliate model scaled without central herds: local owners brought their own animals and knowledge while the brand supplied training, standards and demand.

Package the chore, not the animal: nobody wants to own goats, they want cleared land — so sell the outcome, rent the herd, and let affiliate owners carry the brand into regions you cannot reach.

Goats on the Go grew from a two-farmer hobby into a recognized niche brand with about 60 affiliates across the country by 2023. Municipal clients hired herds for parks and school grounds, and the company pitched grazing as a lower-impact alternative to powered equipment and chemicals, including wildfire mitigation out west. The model met its limits too: an Indiana customer had to remove rented goats after a neighbour complained because residential zoning banned grazing livestock — a reminder that the service still had to win over local governments.