Overview

• About 150 goats and sheep are expected to clear 25 acres over five weeks on a mountain that requires mowing across roughly 300 acres.
• Director of mountain and base area operations Andy Stenger said the experiment proved feasible for maintaining ski slopes.
• The animals wear collars that issue warnings and mild shocks at virtual boundaries while sending location and activity data to owner Adam Ricci of Cloud Brook Grazing.
• Proponents cite a lower carbon footprint, reduced erosion and better water retention, with per-acre costs similar to mechanical mowing but at a much slower pace.
• The Agritech Institute for Small Farms helped coordinate the Jay Peak effort and a 2024 Magic Mountain project, building on U.S. precedents from New Hampshire to Georgia, Nashville and New York City.