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CapitalPress.com
Friday, September 17, 2021
People & Places
‘Rent-a-Goat’ firm targets weeds
By JULIA HOLLISTER
For the Capital Press
Established 1928
COALINGA, Calif. —
Mike and Jan Canaday adore
their “employees” and their
work ethic: they are efficient
and punctual.
And they like to eat
weeds.
The Canadays’ business,
Living Systems Land Man-
agement, stations goats and
sheep at various locations in
California to help landown-
ers get rid of weeds without
using pesticides.
“Since goats prefer weeds
over grasses they will always
seek weeds and consume
them first,” Jan Canaday
said. “Managed goat herds
snap off and consume all
the flower heads, then pick
off the leaves, leaving a bare
stock. Because the flower is
eliminated immediately, it
cannot go to seed, and with-
out leaves it cannot photo-
synthesize and build a root
system.”
They even went on the
“Shark Tank” television
show to talk about their
business.
“‘Shark Tank’ was fun,”
Jan said. “The sharks were all
very personable and although
they didn’t want to invest,
they spoke with us for over
an hour.”
She said the funniest
moment was when their goat,
Pumpkin, walked over to one
of the “sharks,” Lori Greiner,
and took a drink from her
water glass.
In business since 2011,
the company uses the adver-
tising slogan “Rent-a-Goat.”
The Fresno County opera-
tion has approximately 4,500
goats and sheep. Both sheep
and goats are used for graz-
ing, depending on the job.
The goats are a Boer-Span-
ish cross and the sheep are
White Dorper.
The Canadays also train
Capital Press Managers
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Anne Long ................. Advertising Director
Carl Sampson .................. Managing Editor
Samantha McLaren ....Circulation Manager
Entire contents copyright © 2021
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
Rent-a-Goat
published every Friday.
Goats go to work on open space to rid it of weeds and underbrush.
Western
Innovator
MIKE AND JAN
CANADAY
Hometown: Coalinga,
Calif.
Rent-a-Goat
Rent-a-Goat
Mike Canaday runs a com-
pany that puts goats and
sheep to work eating weeds
and other vegetation.
Jan Canaday with a future
“employee.”
border collies to help with
the livestock handling.
From August through
March they lease around
30,000 acres for off-season
grazing.
April through July is the
peak “work” season for the
goats and sheep.
The grazing herd has
worked from Santa Rosa
north of San Francisco to
Agoura Hills 430 miles away
in Los Angeles County. They
do mostly doing weed abate-
ment for fire control. Busi-
ness has increased due to the
ongoing drought, as land-
owners want to get rid of any
weeds and brush that could
provide fuel to a wildfire.
“We run 450 goats or
sheep in each group,” she
said. “When it comes to eat-
ing unwanted plants and
invasive weeds goats don’t
kid around.” They eat thorns,
poison ivy, kudzu and thistle,
and they fertilize the ground
while working, she said.
“People would rather
have a group of goats or
sheep and one herder versus
multiple people using mow-
ers or weed eaters,” Canady
said. “The goats or sheep are
Occupation: Owners
of Living Systems Land
Management, Rent-A-
Goat. They also train
herding dogs.
Quote: “Grazing is need-
ed more than ever to get
the vegetation that has
been ignored for years
back in control without
chemical means.”
able to get into areas that are
difficult for people to tra-
verse and are a safer way
to remove the vegetation to
save homes and businesses
from fires,” she said.
A herder, who is an
H-2A foreign guestworker,
stays with each group of
animals to put up fencing
An independent newspaper
and take care of them.
If something unforeseen
happens, such as a car run-
ning through a fence, some-
one cutting the fence or dogs
chasing the stock, the herd-
ers are on hand to take care
of the problem.
The guestworkers’ place
in the operation raises a
thorny question and a chal-
lenge to the goat and sheep
industry and labor-intensive
agriculture in general.
Wages for most H-2A
foreign guestworkers are
ever-increasing, she said.
The increases in turn have
an adverse effect on the tem-
porary non-immigrant work-
ers. U.S. farmers can’t afford
to hire as many guestwork-
ers, even though most U.S.
workers aren’t interested in
the jobs.
“No consideration is being
made to the fact that we are
bringing in these workers
legally and are required to
provide state inspected hous-
ing, food, utilities and trans-
portation to our employees at
no cost to them,” she said.
The workers are com-
ing here to provide a better
life for their families in their
home countries, Jan said.
Yet federal policy continu-
ally makes it more difficult to
hire them.
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Pond scum’s potential: How microalgae could benefit agriculture
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
Researchers are explor-
ing an unusual tool to help
farmers improve soil health:
microalgae.
To the human eye,
microalgae often appear
as “pond scum” or float-
ing green mats of slime. But
there may be more to it than
meets the eye. Researchers
say microalgae are “under-
explored resources” — both
in diversity and potential
applications.
This summer, a team of
scientists from the University
of Minnesota and USDA’s
Agricultural Research Ser-
vice teamed up to learn more
about a type of microalgae
called cyanobacteria.
The study concluded
microalgae could benefit
agriculture through potential
products, including as renew-
able fuel sources, specialty
chemicals
and natural
fertilizers.
“There’s
a high poten-
tial to dis-
cover new
Adriana
products and
Alvarez
new ways to
benefit agri-
culture that have not been
seen yet. Also, the potential
to supply nutrients and poten-
tially replace chemical fertil-
izers is exciting,” said Adri-
ana Alvarez, the study’s lead
researcher with the univer-
sity’s Department of Bio-
products and Biosystems
Engineering.
For the study, the research-
ers focused a nitrogen-fixing
cyanobacterium known as
Anabaena cylindrica UTEX
strain 1611.
Previous
studies
of
microalgae in agriculture,
completed in the 1970s
through early 2000s, had
focused mostly on using
microalgae to fertilize rice
crops or arid regions. Little
research had yet been done
on microalgae’s potential for
boosting soil health in nutri-
ent-rich, arable soils. That’s
precisely what this new study
explored.
The study had three
main components: study-
ing cyanobacteria’s effects
on soil structure and nutrient
dynamics, simulated rainfall
and other water events and
mineralization.
The researchers made
several discoveries.
First, they found that
soils inoculated with cya-
nobacteria had more solu-
ble nitrogen and phosphorus
than untreated control soils.
That means cyanobacteria,
said Alvarez, may be useful
in creating fertilizer. Cyano-
bacteria-based fertilizers, she
said, could potentially replace
or partially replace standard
nitrogen fertilizers.
The second finding was
that soils inoculated with cya-
nobacteria contained more
soluble organic carbon. That
translates into potentially
higher levels of beneficial soil
microorganisms promoting
plant health and productivity.
This could prove valu-
able, Alvarez said, consider-
ing “soils are losing carbon at
a high rate.”
The third finding was that
cyanobacteria-inoculated
soils had more large aggre-
gates — clumps of parti-
cles — in the soil that held
together better in water, which
could help slow erosion.
These findings add up to
one conclusion: Cyanobacte-
ria can improve soil health.
There’s still work to
be done, however, before
microalgae move to the mass
market.
The first major research
question that still needs to be
answered is whether it’s eco-
nomically feasible to scale
up production and harvest of
microalgae. Can microalgae
be cultivated on a large scale
in treated wastewater, for
example?
Alvarez said further
research is also needed related
to safety. Some strains of cya-
nobacteria produce toxins.
Alvarez said she would like to
see more research into cyano-
toxins to make sure there are
no dangers in farmers using
them.
Additionally, Alvarez said
that because multiple strains
of cyanobacteria exist, it
will be important for future
research to explore how spe-
cific strains interact with par-
ticular soil types.
Despite knowledge gaps,
Alvarez said she’s hopeful
about the possibilities.
“There are many different
kinds of products that could
be developed,” she said.
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Spokane Conservation District celebrates 80th birthday in new location
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
The Spokane Conserva-
tion District will host its 80th
birthday celebration from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 25
during an open house in new
digs.
Festivities include a
seed-saving class led by the
district’s Vets on the Farm
program, children’s activi-
ties, science booths, a farmers
market, an opportunity to join
the Friends of the Quarry vol-
unteer group and a tour of the
new building.
The district moved in April
from its old location near the
Spokane County Fairgrounds
to the new building at 4422 E.
8th Ave. in Spokane Valley.
“We look forward to this
securing our ability to pro-
vide the resources and tech-
nical services that we do for
the next 80 years,” Vicki Car-
ter, district director, said of the
move.
The old building belongs
to Spokane County. At 9,000
square feet, it was too small.
“We were out of room,
quite frankly,” Carter said.
“Both in terms of interior
space for our staffing needs
and exterior space in terms
of where we were having to
keep equipment. We had our
farming equipment stored all
over the county because we
didn’t have any space there.”
The new building is 12,500
square feet, Carter said. The
district purchased the land
for $1.2 million in 2017 and
secured a $4.2 million loan
for the new building.
A 7,000-square-foot build-
ing already on the property
has been rented out.
Construction
will
also begin shortly on a
15,000-square-foot
build-
ing as part of a public/pri-
vate partnership using a $4.2
million low-interest 20-year
loan from the state Depart-
ment of Commerce’s Com-
munity Economic Revitaliza-
tion Board.
Half of that building will
be occupied by Intrinium, a
private information technol-
ogy and security solutions
company, and the other half
will be leased out. Intrinium
contributed $750,000 for its
portion of the loan, Carter
said.
“We’re building this whole
thing out to be a campus,”
Carter said. “We’re really
excited about that.”
Letters to the Editor: Send your
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CALENDAR
Submit upcoming ag-related
events on www.capitalpress.com
or by email to newsroom@capital-
press.com.
THROUGH SEPT. 26
Washington State Fair: Wash-
ington State Fair Events Center, 110
9th Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. Open
Labor Day weekend. Closed Tuesdays
and Sept. 8. Website: https://www.
thefair.com/
THROUGH SEPT. 17
68th National Reg Angus Con-
vention: Riverside Hotel, Boise. Pre-
sentations and workshops will focus
on innovation and elevating the
breed. Website: http://redangus.org
TUESDAY, SEPT. 21
18th Annual Oregon Farm
Bureau Classic Golf Tournament:
8 a.m. OGA Golf Course 2850 Hazel-
nut Drive, Woodburn, Ore. Join Farm
Bureau members and supporters
of Oregon agriculture for a fun day
of scramble-format golf. Help raise
funds for OFB’s Political Action Com-
mittee, which supports candidates
and ballot initiatives that are good for
Oregon’s ag community. Contact: tif-
fany@oregonfb.org
WEDNESDAY SEPT. 22
Love the Land Benefit Con-
cert (virtual): Local farmers are at the
heart of our food system. And yet, the
barriers that they face are staggering,
especially for marginalized growers.
From finding and affording land to
keeping it productive and resilient in
the face of climate change, local farm-
ers need our support now more than
ever. That’s why Washington Farm-
land Trust and Viva Farms are team-
ing up for the second year in a row on
a virtual benefit concert to support a
resilient, equitable future for farming.
Join us for an evening of inspiration,
music, and community as we aim to
raise $330,000 for local farms. Fea-
tured artists include The December-
ists, True Loves, Black Belt Eagle Scout,
Whitney Mongé, and Sera Cahoone.
Cost: $10 Website: https://wafarm-
landtrust.org/event/love-the-land/
TUESDAY SEPT. 28
Public Lands Council 53rd
Annual Meeting (online): On behalf
of the Public Lands Council Board of
Directors and Executive Committee,
we invite you to attend the 2021 Pub-
lic Lands Council Virtual Annual Meet-
ing on Tuesday, Sept. 28. While we
originally planned to see you in Sea-
side, Ore., due to increased COVID-
19 cases, we have made the difficult
decision to move the annual meeting
to a virtual format. Website: https://
bit.ly/3sR4NH0
OSU Extension’s Seed and
Cereal Crop Production meeting
(online): 8:30 a.m. Agenda: a look at
Oregon Wheat Commission activi-
ties from Amanda Hoey, chief exec-
utive officer for the Oregon Wheat
Commission and the Oregon Wheat
Growers League; winter and spring
wheat variety recommendations
from OSU Extension cereal scientist
and assistant professor Ryan Graeb-
ner; and a report on best practices
for strong yields and pest manage-
ment in wheat from OSU field crops
agent Nicole Anderson. The session
is free but you must register to get
the credit. Registration:https://beav.
es/39h
Index
Markets .................................................12
Opinion ...................................................6
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