Herd Mentality: Goats Clear Campus Weeds
By Matthew Johnson, August 13 2026—
The newest members of the groundskeeping team have certainly made an impression on both students and staff at the University of Calgary.
The pilot project to bring goats on campus started last year, at parking lot 32 of the U of C. This year the goats were invited back working their way through the Swann Mall on campus.
The use of goats for targeted grazing helps with land management, clearing out weeds and invasive species without relying on the use of chemical herbicides.
Similar programs have run over the summer at the City of Calgary, bringing the furry friends all over the city’s parks.
“The focus is for the goats to eat some of the Vetch species, as well as the thistles. Goats will eat the leaves off of plants like this, so the plant gets stressed with its foliage removed and unable to feed the root system going into winter,” explained Kellie Cartwright of Grazin Goats explained.
Grazin Goats is a local Alberta operation that was brought onto the university’s campus to help with our invasive weeds on campus.
The operation is family owned, run by Kellie and her husband Ryan alongside their youngest son, Cole, who was the driver in finding the goat herd four years ago. Ryan is a fourth generation rancher here in Alberta, with the whole family working in various parts of the agriculture industry.
Goats have a 2.5 per cent faster metabolism than other livestock, so they have the capacity to eat more noxious or toxic weeds as the plants can go through their system faster, explained Cartwright.
There are plants that can be dangerous for any livestock (such as Black Henbane) but Grazin Goats always do site assessments before they send the goats out to work.
“There are areas where we can’t knock down the weeds, so the natural areas where […] the grass is tall and long, it’s based off that,” explained Shawna Stone, supervisor and Horticulture Journeyman in the university’s grounds department on where the locations are picked.
Clearing out weeds isn’t the only job that the goats tackle, as Grazin Goats was also helping out the town of High River.
The team of goats were helping the High River fire department not too long ago for two weeks to help reduce fire fuels, explained Cartwright.
The use of targeted grazing in wildfire management has been adopted across North America.
The goats don’t just eat, the manure they leave behind also provides nutrients for the soil and plants to use, while their hooves help with aerating the soil.
“The environment is such an important part of all of our lives, we want to do our part in taking care of it in a sustainable way, using goat power and not chemicals,” said Carwright.
Stone hinted at the possibility of the goats returning to campus for another week for another area of the campus; they will definitely be around the Swann Mall until Friday.
“I know they bring a lot of smiles to people on campus, it’s great,” said Stone.
“It is funny as a lot of people say they have to get back to work or back to their classes. They are reluctant to go as they really enjoy watching the goats but they always say they will be back to see them,” said Cartwright.
The goats have been on campus all week, and you can see them until August 14.