How nearly 3 000 goats provide an ecological landscape for plans Aloe Vera Forever.
Many Forever products are sourced from our 3 035 hectare aloe fields in Texas and the Dominican Republic. Each year, Forever grows an average of 40 million plants, producing Aloe barbadensis Miller, the most nutritionally valuable variety of aloe. The aloe vera is harvested by hand and kept safe by goats before being shipped to the Forever products manufacturing facility.
In the Dominican Republic, Forever has around 3,000 goats tending the aloe fields year-round, eating unwanted weeds that can harm the aloe vera and providing natural fertilizer. Goats will eat almost any plant, including invasive varieties and those that are irritating or harmful to humans, such as poison ivy. They tend to graze for about six hours a day, making them excellent natural gardeners (and later fertilizers). Indeed, a single adult goat can eat two to three kilograms of fodder per day and can produce up to 1,000 kilograms of manure per year. This translates to over 2.7 million pounds of natural fertilizer per year for Forever's aloe vera plants!
These adorable members of the Forever family, which includes Barbados Blackbelly, Nubian and Katahdin goats. They were introduced to aloe fields in the Dominican Republic over 10 years ago. Currently, Forever is working to introduce goats to its aloe fields in Mission, Texas as part of the same effort to provide environmentally friendly landscaping.
Overall, the benefits of using goats as a natural option to control unwanted weeds and using their droppings as a natural fertilizer on specific food crops are well known,” says Rafael Hernandez, director of the environment, health and safety at Forever.
Using goats in this way avoids having to use harsh chemicals to kill weeds or fertilize aloe. Additionally, goatscaping reduces the amount of fuel needed to power gardening equipment.
According to Hernandez, goats eat the weeds that grow around aloe plants, but they don't eat the aloe plants themselves because they are too acidic.
Weeds would deplete the soil of nutrients if not removed. Goat Feast is therefore incredibly beneficial for growing the healthy and nutritious aloe that is at the heart of so many Forever products. In return, the goats have plenty of land to graze and feed on, and they live a happy life.
“Forever goats are treated like any other farm animal,” Hernandez says.
“Some of the employees who work in the aloe fields take care of the goats, which includes: making sure there is enough water available, taking extra care to the kids and ensure that this important part of the Forever family is healthy.
More information about aloe vera fields Forever :
All water used to clean and wash Forever Aloe Vera is recycled back into the aloe fields to help conserve water.
With an average of 40 million aloe shots vera in our aloe fields, Forever cleans the Earth of millions of cubic tons of CO2.