Sheep: An Old-Fashioned Technique of Tending Open Space

the Concord Magazine September/October 2001

This page sponsored by:

Internet Marketing and Design Made Simple

By Anthony Dorman, Concord Magazine Staff.

"A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts. We should be blessed if we lived in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it..."
Henry David Thoreau, Walden

a pastoral scene not seen in Concord for a while now

Concord and Carlisle have been hosting more than 300 itinerant field workers from August to October: a flock of sheep "hired" to graze several fields owned by these towns, private conservation organizations, and the national park. The goal of their work is to encourage the growth of native grasses, control invasive exotic plant species, revitalize old agricultural fields, and regain historic landscapes.

The sheep will be working each site in small portions to ensure that they eat most of the vegetation to the ground. This type of grazing will encourage grasses and discourage woody plants. They will leave the site a bit brown initially, but quickly the grasses will grow.

Their shepherd, Chris Small, and his herding dogs (left) and guard dog (below) will be with the sheep during the day and the guard dog will remain with the sheep at night. They will be contained during the day and night by a portable electric fence (below).

The flock and its human and canine attendants were hired from Bellwether Solutions, a Concord, NH company which provides grazing sheep intended to keep land open, an alternative to mowing, pesticides, or cutting of small trees. They have been grazing land beneath power lines in New Hampshire for the past four summers. Snowbirds, they munch kudzu in Florida during the winter.

The effectiveness of this technique is still being researched, but it already seem clear that the sheep do a better job of killing small trees than do mowing, pesticides or hand-cutting, especially if they are brought back for a second graze in about a month. Some hope this more environmentally friendly and visually appealing method of maintenance could prove to be more cost-effective in the end.

The members of this cooperative pilot project are The Carlisle Conservation Commission, The Carlisle Conservation Foundation, The Concord Land Conservation Trust, The Concord Natural Resources Commission and Minuteman National Historical Park. If you have general questions about this project, contact Markus Pinney or Rachel Landry 318-3285, both of the Concord Natural Resources Commission.

(click on images for a larger view)

This Pyrenean guard dog stays with the flock overnight.	How to keep the sheep "down on the farm".
Sledding Hill before the sheep arrived.	Just a few days later: Sledding Hill after the sheep have grazed it once.
Eating lush poison ivy beneath the trees.

This website is a gift to the Concord community from ConcordMA.com, a full-service Internet design and marketing company. 978 369-0113. PO Box 285, Concord, MA 01742 webmaster@concordma.com