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They're adorably cute. They eat a lot. They're pricey, too. But Sunnyvale officials say the 630 goats and 160 sheep grazing at the city's old landfill are well worth their $20,000 price tag.
The animals are munching 90 acres of tall grass and weeds that grew up during the winter. They arrived at the Carl Road site on April 16 and will stay until June 30.
And this all has to do with power.
The landfill opened in the 1930s and closed in 1993. But methane gas produced by decomposing garbage is used today to power the city's sewage treatment plant. Two Caterpillar generators produce 1.6 megawatts of electricity, which is more than the city needs. So, the excess power is sold to the state's power grid, which then sells it on the open market.
The methane gas is why the goats and sheep are so important. According to Sunnyvale Communications Officer John Pilger, "mechanical mowers can damage the methane collection system."
Once, damage from mowers cost the city $12,000. Pilger also says that methane is flammable and, in some instances, sparks from the mowers have started fires.
Goats and sheep don't start fires. And other than an occasional bleat, they're nowhere near as noisy as mowers. Nor do they pollute the air. So, they're ecologically friendly. Sunnyvale's Solid Waste Program Manager Mark Bowers says mowers are $5,000$10,000 less expensive but, he says, "goats do a much higher quality job." When the goats and sheep are done, the grass and weeds will only be some 6 to 8 inches tall.
Another benefit is that when animals eat nasty weeds such as yellow star thistle, those weeds eventually quit growing. When they're mowed, they just keep growing back.
The goats and sheep are leased to the city by Santa Cruzbased Natural Solutions. The company's Scott Kulenguskey describes Natural Solutions as a "holistic company," which he says wants to be able to give people an affordable product. Kulenguskey says, "Our goal is for people to get their land back."
Kulenguskey describes the herd in Sunnyvale as a mixture of South African Boer goats and Spanish goats, working the hillside with South African Doper sheep.
Natural Solutions is also providing four border collies and a Great Pyrenees to guard the herd. Kulenguskey says the dogs have an instinct to herd. A funny-sounding Scottish shepherd's whistle alerts the dogs to move the herd to a new location. Depending on how the whistle is blown, the dogs can move the herd fast or slow or stop it altogether. An electrified fence is also used to keep the animals within the landfill's boundaries.
All of the goats and sheep are females, and several have given birth since arriving at the landfill. The little kids and lambs are bottle-fed by Natural Solutions workers. Three times a day they gobble up a special livestock milk powder that is mixed with water. That leaves the mothers free to graze all day.
Sunnyvale first used goats and sheep to mow the landfill in 2002. The city skipped using them last year because it was reviewing the effectiveness of the 2002 program.
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Photograph courtesy city of Sunnyvale