{"id":1332109,"date":"2024-06-22T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agriland.ie\/?p=1332109"},"modified":"2024-06-20T15:24:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T14:24:52","slug":"watch-what-it-takes-to-be-a-goat-herder-on-howth-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/farming-news\/watch-what-it-takes-to-be-a-goat-herder-on-howth-head\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: What it takes to be a goat herder on Howth Head"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ever wondered what it takes to herd goats on Howth Head? As new goat herders and herder apprentices are sought for the grazing project, <em>Agriland<\/em> visited the Old Irish Goats and their herder, Melissa Jeuken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2021, Jeuken has been herding the goats as part of the grazing project to reduce gorse, graze fire breaks, control invasive species, manage heritage sites, and to restore and foster more structurally diverse&nbsp;habitats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to growing demand for conservation grazing projects, the Old Irish Goat Society is now looking to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.agriland.ie\/farming-news\/goat-herders-and-apprentices-sought-for-howth-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">add to its team<\/a> for projects on Howth Head and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, and prospective projects around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Howth Head Conservation Project\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/7QSgaMgS6nc?feature=oembed&#038;modestbranding=1&#038;autohide=1&#038;rel=0&#038;controls=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We at the Old Irish Goat Society are here to promote and protect our native breed and the most sustainable and long-term vision way of doing that is to give them a job and a utility,&#8221; the society\u2019s head herder&nbsp;said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking to <em>Agriland<\/em>, Jeuken said Old Irish Goats are hardy and resiliant, which makes them ideal candidates for conservation grazing as they can manage very difficult terrains and areas where man and machine should not go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Goats on Howth Head<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Herding over 100 Old Irish Goats on Howth Head, Jeuken said the goats have a great taste for gorse, prickly plants, and even noxious weeds, ragwort, thistles, and nettles. &#8220;They can manage an awful lot,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a risk of fire in areas where biomass has accumulated over a long period of time. Goats are the &#8220;perfect browsers&#8221; for those difficult terrains as they will open up a space and create an access route, Jeuken added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These areas are often poor marginal land which is not suitable for larger livestock or difficult to access. As a first line of defence, the goats deal with the scrub and open it up, eventually creating pastural fire breaks, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Observation skills are vital for any potential goat herder. It is about understanding the herd and the landscape &#8211; &#8220;they are a flighty animal, they are a little bit inquisitive and curious so they will put you to the test,&#8221; Jeuken said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-background-color has-background\">Herders with experience who would like the opportunity to work for the Old Irish Goat Society on this and other projects are encouraged to apply before the deadline on Friday, June 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More details on the role, detailed qualification criteria and how to apply can be found on the Old Irish Goat website under the \u2018jobs\u2019 section. Applications are welcome from local and international applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n    <div id=\"agri-related-stories-block_8aa58f3817015c15f947e39c1b2a8177\" class=\"related-stories\">\n        <h5 id=\"related-stories-h5-headline\">Related Stories:<\/h5>\n        <ul class=\"related-stories-list\"><li class=\"related-stories-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/farming-news\/goat-herders-and-apprentices-sought-for-howth-project\/\"><svg width=\"15\" height=\"15\" viewBox=\"0 0 637 637\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M326.506 427.855C337.204 440.983 347.434 454.623 357.11 468.774C397.22 422.569 449.051 385.401 510.302 362.596C551.477 347.294 593.633 339.707 635.277 338.983C635.746 332.035 636.002 325.002 636.002 317.969C636.002 308.165 635.533 298.489 634.68 288.941C587.453 289.709 539.585 298.234 492.869 315.624C427.014 340.091 370.878 379.22 326.506 427.855Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><path d=\"M430.038 146.756C473.515 130.601 517.674 119.732 561.833 113.893C503.48 44.2868 415.93 0 317.979 0C174.718 0 53.579 94.7542 13.8104 225.015C77.5766 242.405 138.189 270.026 193.132 306.726C256.258 237.376 336.265 181.666 430.038 146.756Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><path d=\"M392.788 527.986C404.851 550.917 415.635 574.872 424.885 599.808C426.845 605.051 428.678 610.251 430.426 615.494C524.029 580.073 596.576 501.771 624.026 404.545C593.592 406.25 562.945 412.388 532.938 423.555C475.139 445.038 427.485 482.036 392.788 527.986Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><path d=\"M1.32136 289.123C0.468869 298.628 0 308.261 0 317.98C0 325.78 0.298371 333.495 0.85249 341.125C140.49 384.645 259.455 489.33 315.421 635.959C316.274 635.959 317.126 636.001 317.979 636.001C334.815 636.001 351.311 634.68 367.423 632.165C366.315 628.925 365.164 625.686 363.97 622.447C301.185 453.568 162.74 334.561 1.32136 289.123Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><path d=\"M15.1801 415.256C48.5551 519.174 133.889 599.82 240.664 626.503C193.265 527.657 111.384 454.215 15.1801 415.256Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><path d=\"M245.522 345.899C258.309 356.597 270.713 367.807 282.647 379.614C333.115 325.652 396.327 282.175 470.153 254.725C520.151 236.14 571.301 226.38 621.939 224.334C616.696 207.284 610.046 190.873 602.161 175.188C552.205 178.811 501.951 189.424 452.719 207.71C371.093 238.059 301.189 286.139 245.522 345.899Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><\/svg><h5 itemprop=\"headline\">Goat herders and apprentices sought for Howth project<\/h5><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever wondered what it takes to herd goats on Howth Head? As new goat herders and herder apprentices are sought&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3495,"featured_media":1332111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[2850,18007,18817],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3495"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1332109"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1333961,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332109\/revisions\/1333961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1332111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1332109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1332109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1332109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}