Green alder shrubs increasingly overgrow mountain pastures. Especially on steep and remote sites of low productivity, the stocking density decreases. Consequently, green alder expands massively and the pastureland and its biodiversity is getting lost.
In this video, Julia and Martin Patzen explain how they regulate green alder shrubs by goats and how they de-bush their mountain pastures in the Madris valley in the canton of Grisons. Manuel Schneider, mountain farming expert at Agroscope, provides background knowledge about green alder regulation. Goats are the ideal tool for de-bushing, especially at sites where mechanical regulation is challenging. In long term, goats reduce the workload of pasture care.
This video is a collaboration of Agroscope, Agridea, FiBL, Büro Alpe and the experimental station for alpine and mountain agriculture, and aimed at exchanging knowledge and experience among scientists and practitioners.