ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has put a different kind of yard goat to work at its Inman Yard in Atlanta.
Goats — as in the four-legged domesticated farm animal, not a four-axle switcher — were used to get rid of invasive kudzu, the fast-growing vines that are the bane of the South.
Kudzu can grow a foot per day, clog storm sewer drains, and kill other plants and trees. But kudzu is no match for hungry goats.
Traditional kudzu removal efforts are costly and not particularly effective over the long-term. Unlike chemicals or manual removal, goats offer a low-cost, eco-friendly alternative that targets the roots, not just the vines.
The NS goat project began as a joke. “Someone said, ‘Let’s get some goats out there,’ and it stuck,” said Nathan Williams, Norfolk Southern environmental manager. After online research, the railroad hired Glitzy Goats, a local “goatscaping” company.
NS estimates it saved $25,000 and seven days of manual labor by deploying the goats. It took the two dozen goats three to four weeks to chew their way through five to seven acres of kudzu at Inman Yard.
