Aaron Steele, right, and Chad Steenhoek, owners of Goats On The Go, check on a kid. The Story County farmers say their goats are booked through the 2016 season to help landowners clean up noxious weeds through grazing. Right: A goat munches the leaves off a tree sapling. The goats also eat poison ivy and invasive plant species.On a warm June day, Aaron Steele and his partner Chad Steenhoek find themselves hauling 30 bellowing goats from northeast of Ames to Iowa City. The goats are anxious to go to work. Their job: clearing a ravine of noxious weeds.

It’s the latest mission of Goats On The Go, a targeted grazing enterprise now in its fourth grazing season.

“We take the goats where they’re needed,” says Steele. Goats, and sometimes sheep, are employed to rid landowners of unwanted vegetation in an environmentally conscientious way. At a cost of around $1,000 per acre for most jobs (specific costs are calculated for each situation), Goats On The Go will deliver a team of 30 to 40 goats to the targeted site, often in rough terrain or locations where chemical use could be detrimental. The goats can generally clear one acre of land in three to five days. Customers from private landowners to government conservation agencies are utilizing the service, making Goats On The Go a growing service.

Goats On The Go sprang from a...