PA School Saves $15,000 by Letting Flock of Sheep Trim the Grass
- Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:13am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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CARLISLE, Pa. (The Blaze/AP) — A central Pennsylvania school has a woolly plan to keep its grass neatly trimmed.
The Carlisle Area School District says it can save up to $15,000 a year by turning over some landscaping chores to sheep.
The Patriot-News of Harrisburg reports the district is using the sheep to keep the grass near its solar panels neatly trimmed. The sheep nibble grass in the morning and take refuge in the shade of the panels in the afternoon.
With the food already on hand, the district need only supply the sheep with water.
A middle school assistant principal is providing the sheep. Eric Sands says he’s still trying to figure out exactly how many sheep he needs to use to keep the area clear.
“Right now, we’re testing how many sheep the solar area can maintain. … It looks like the grass is still growing, so I’m going to have to bring in more,” he told the Patriot-News.
According to the outlet, the practice of using sheep is popular:
Dan Ludwig is a grazing specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service based in Lebanon County. He said leasing animals for grazing on swaths of government and private land is a growing business.
For example, Whistling Straits golf course in Kohler, WI — which has hosted such prestigious tournaments as the PGA Championship — has a flock of sheep that grazes on the course grounds.
—
Information from: The Patriot-News, http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews
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Comments (110)
mdlwoods
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:12pmOh, wait! I would expect that those nasty solar panels which take up valuable grazing and wildlife habitat would not be good for anything but causing hardship to the wildlife. But here, they are saying the animals (sheep) actually get a benefit from those solar panels by utilizing the shade they produce? Hmmm. I wonder just what benefit other animals get from, oh, just for example, oil pipelines in Alaska? Lets see, I believe I recall seeing an article stating that where the land had to be cleared to put in the pipeline, it created new grazing areas for wildlife. But, guess you don’t hear about those benefits from the tree-hugging, PETA-loving, crazy activists, do ya?
But, anyway, good to hear some good old fashioned common sense is being put to use in this case! I think everyone should own at least one goat or sheep to keep the yard neatly trimmed!!!!
Report Post »NJTMATO
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:08pmUH OH…watch out! Soon there will be a government grant to study the harmful effects that nearness to solar panels and their production of electricity that degenerates the sheep reproductive cycle!!! Watch, PETA will be lobbying for it! Common sense in Pennsylvania school district….hmmmm will we be able to tolerate it?
Report Post »Bushie
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:58amWe need to make the sheep join the union.
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 10:53pmGood One. Expect a class action grievance from the Landscaper’s union
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:58ammaybe anthony w. can turn his attentions to sheep. I don’t think sheep do facebook or Twitter.
Report Post »mill
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:53pmHAHAHAHAHAha
Report Post »Rickfromillinois
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:51amSounds like a good idea to me. If the town I live in would allow it I would buy a goat or two for keeping the grass on my lawn short. I have a large storage shed in the back that I could clean out so that they could use if for shelter. The mother’s in the neighborhood whose kids play on my lawn may not be happy about it though.
Report Post »ying
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:50amHehe, I think it’s a great idea.
Report Post »Obama_Sham
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:50amThere are other great possibilities for the students when they return to school… The education possibilities are almost endless… Just think of it… There may be a couple future veterinarians in that school…
Report Post »2010GOP
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:49amWatch how this cost-saving idea becomes more expensive, over budget, as the government starts to implement it. There will be vet costs, a sheep hospital that will need built, a “breeding” program to establish the proper amount of “gas” that they can release from eating the grass, there will need to be retirement benefits for the sheep – are we going to kill them and eat them? Where’s PETA there has to be a sheep rights issue here as well. My point is this will end up costing the taxpayers money because the government is in charge. Also by taking away jobs from humans how is this helping our economy? Would the grass need mowed if the solar panels weren’t there. In other words if the land was just left for God to take care since there is no other purpose except solar panels noted as the reason for the maintenance.
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:03pmGawd- I hadn’t thought of that-You are right! I think Congress should fund a study group right away. They could put Bi-i-i-i-i-iden in charge. Give Wiener a crooked staff and a sling shot and he’s productive again!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:46amThis is cattle country, the first sheep herder that crosses my land will be the last! :-)
Report Post »cntrlfrk
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:02pmHa!
We call them “Range Maggots” here in Nebraska.
.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:41amThis is what I’d call free-market innovation!
Report Post »randy
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:40amIdiotic idea…….
Report Post »Who is going to clean up the sheep Poop?
And how much will that cost? $16,000.00 a year?
cntrlfrk
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:45amWhy clean it up?
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:55amAfter a couple of rains the poop disintegrates; just like dog poop. I have a very green lawn thanks to my dog!
Report Post »TxGold
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:59amIt‘s ’pellets’, not ‘piles’. Calm down.
Report Post »BO Stinks
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 3:55pmSheep poo is just little pellets like the size of marbles it dry not messy and it really does not have much smell . they use to have a flock of sheep at the white house to maintain the grounds.
Report Post »rayblue
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:39amUsed to use that method at a trailer in Channelview. Till the goat ate the insulation from under the bathroom. After that I mowed the grass by driving over it with a chevy Malibu.
Report Post »Forgive me, I was a bachelor at the time.
MidWestMom
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:11pmLOL – forget the fence? Just kidding… :P
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:38amOMG! Common sense! What ever shall we do??????????
LOL. Great story.
Report Post »rightwingheroes
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:38amSo they’re using Democrats to trim the lawn?
Report Post »Akbarjonnie Shaheed
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:35amSaved $15,000 and sent 10 illegals to unemployment. You still lose.
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 10:55pmSheep taking jobs from Ill-eagulls. Love it!
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 10:59pmIf the sheep stay for 3 years, they’ll be tenured, then they can teach. Oh that’s right the classrooms are all ready lead by sheep.
Report Post »jasmer
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:34amOnce long ago, there was a U.S. Air Force base in Europe – maybe Torrejón, Spain – that used sheep to trim the flight line. A visiting USAF General was outraged that such primitive methods were being used – it was humiliating to have the pride of American might serviced by sheep! Local nationals were hired to run mowers instead, and the Defense contracts were reviewed.
They went back to running the sheep.
Report Post »flattop
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:30amWhat do these people think all that sheep eaten grass is going to turn into?
Sheep dip!
Its going to be all over the place where the sheep roam.
I only hope the growing season ends by the time school starts in mid to late summer.
Kids aren’t going to be real pleased with the smell.
Report Post »psst
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:42amUm, they are wearing Sheet, er Sheep Pampers. (the Sheep)
Report Post »TxGold
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:57amIt wouldn‘t be terrible if they happened to step on a sheep ’pellet’.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:05pm“sheep dip” dries rapidly and/or disintegrates very quickly.
Report Post »The sheep are in the solar panel area. I highly doubt that area is used as outdoor space for the kids.
Smell? – Well kids live with it in now in many places and have lived with it for decades – won‘t kill ’em.
BlackCrow
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:41pmSheep dip is a bath used to get fleas and mange mites off the sheep so they will produce high quality wool. It is not the remnants of the seeps last meal.
Have to expect that from people who think meat just appears in the back of the supermarket.
Report Post »psst
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:30amGoats would be better.
Report Post »They make a fine BBQ which can be enjoyed in the fall when the grass stops growing.
sevencreekssappers
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:28amCommon sense is being used, Watch out they will shut it down. PETA.
Report Post »Mannax
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:05pmPETA People for the Eating of Tasty Animals.
Report Post »DatabaseSue
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:23amThis is exactly what I told my husband we needed to do to save on gas
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:54amLOL Its exactly what hubby & I are planning – only we’re using goats – you can milk them!
Report Post »hillbillyinny
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:49pm@ Midwestmom
You can milk sheep too, just less quantitiy! Good chese and yogurt source–search Old Chatham Sheepherding Company.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:01pm@ – hillbillyinny
Thanks! We’ll check it out
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:22amGood for them! Common sense answer to a problem. Oh, wait, will PETA object for some stupid reason?
Report Post »Vickie Dhaene
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:33amThey’ll demand a fair wage and union representation because the are now Service Employees !!!
Report Post »cntrlfrk
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:21amWatch out for the guy with the velcro gloves….
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:19am.
Report Post »Those sheep are emmiting greenhouse gasses, Sheep Dip everywhere kids gonna step in it cause an environmental hazard EPA, OSHA OMG what were they thinking……………….
cloudsofwar
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:53pmsomsbody please call Algore.
Report Post »mom4times
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:18amtotally cool….awesome idea….now if only NYS could adopt that plan….their complaint is the budget so let some farmers help out with grazing animals
Report Post »drattastic
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:17amTrim it and fertilize it too
Report Post »Young_Millionaire
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:24amSure am glad I joined Glenn’s new network – if this is the news we get instead of Newt’s speech yesterday. Fertilizer is a “good term.”
Report Post »cessna152
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:29amBoycott PA for slave labor!
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:37amNewt who? I thought Newt was a RINO not a sheep!
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:53amUsing animals to keep gardens and pastures “mowed” is a time-proven technique that was widely used before the days of mowers. During summer the animals maintained the field – in the fall the field was ploughed. The animal dung improved & fertilized the soil for the next planting. Next spring, the animals were used in another field – and so on & so on.. … the process worked well.
The school is doing this in their “solar panel area” – an area I highly doubt is part of any outdoor space the kids use. As for any “smell” – for decades kids lived with it – these kids can too. Won’t kill them. And it just might teach them about self-reliance, realistic green & money saving methods.
Its a win-win
Report Post »Rightsofman
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:54amGood idea but watch where you step.
Report Post »J.C. McGlynn
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:56amSo, when do we start hearing about the theft of union grounds keeping jobs to sheep?
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:03pmYeah, when do they get fined?
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:08pmJust wait until the ******* start kidnapping the sheep for sex slaves.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:10pmoops!
Report Post »“And it just might teach them about self-reliance, realistic green & money saving methods.”
Replace IT with “the whole program”
fastfacts
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:13pmEATING GRASS, THIS WILL HURT THE ENVIRONMENT…
Did you see that Global Warming Advocates are now going after our kids, ten years after no global warming: http://www.americanparchment.com/
Report Post »Texas Grasshopper
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:14pmGreat .so now the Illegals from Pa are going to move to Texas for jobs ….okay how can an Illegal get a Job in this Country and I have to fill out a 13 page employment application ? What is wrong with this picture ? ..is this a realted story …..yeah it is a bunch of crap
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:45pmSheep piles for the kids to play in, they can use them as bases and homeplate for their pick up baseball games!
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:05pm@ — Young_Millionaire:
“Sure am glad I joined Glenn’s new network – if this is the news we get instead of Newt’s speech yesterday. Fertilizer is a “good term.”
Cancel your subscription. I listened to Newt’s speech yesterday. It was a yawn.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:10pmYeah, but they leave huge piles of crap behind! Is someone picking that crap up? They better cause the kids will be walking in it before you know it!!
Report Post »hersey10
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:18pm@ Young Millionaire I love the way you put it . I’m glad I joined too , it’s gonna be exciting !!
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:42pmThis is BS. Actually I guess its SS. But I wonder if these sheep are unionized, and what happened to all those poor landscapers.
Report Post »http://guerillatics.com
wildbill_b
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:52pmThis will, however create more work for the teachers :) Now they will have to teach the kids what sheep are.
As ridiculous this MAY seem, I live near Purdue University. They tell me that this is a place of higher education with the brightest minds in the nation attending. Now all this may very well be true, however my personal experiences are in diametric opposition to this conclusion. I give you twoexamples. First, one day the 2 year large animal veterinary class came out to the house and use our pigmy goats as subjects. The class arrives, they are all standing around the goats and the teach asks who knows what their temperature should be. They look at each other for a moment, then one of the boys says “What are they”?? What college vet student could NOT know what a goat is? The second involves the Vet class again one day at a friends farm who has two alpaca’s. When asked what they are a student very quickly piped up with “LONG NECK HORSES” and no one said a word until the teacher corrected him. But as for the story, Good for that school who has some intelligent and critically thinking officials.
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”
Report Post »– French economist, statesman and author Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)
mill
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:52pmSO….do the kids get to play in the sheep doodles????
Report Post »AW quit complaining….a little news OTHER than political is nice..even if it is sheep…
mill
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:56pmGreat idea that ******* use the sheep instead of “sex slaves”…..a few hands of sheep food, a little water… They don‘t’ complain…I understand it’s all time proven in WY.
Report Post »Whitey4West
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 2:55pmWAIT….what about all the flatulent greenhouse gasses that will be omitted?????????? Did the school get the proper permits??? These are questions we MUST have answered!
Report Post »Whitey4West
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 2:56pm*emitted
Report Post »_waTson_
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 6:37pm@ Young_Millionaire
This is a great story and perfect for this site! I live in Wyoming and using sheep to come in and clear ditches and fields is so environmentally great for many reasons:
• No pesticides needed
• No fuel to start up a mower, tractor etc.
• Your still employing a sheep owner :)
• It’s a great investment for someone that wants to loan their sheep out (not to mention the wool).
• It’s saving the school district 15K.
Love it!!!! Great story Mr. Jonathon M. Seidl and my hat is off to PA :) :) :)
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 7:30pm.
Report Post »Great idea.
Just keep an eye on the teachers and sheep.
TomFerrari
Posted on June 14, 2011 at 6:42am@midwestmom is correct – time tested method – now that things get tough they start listening to those of us with common sense. You don’t need a $10million govt research program to design a solar-powered, autonomous robot for mowing grass. Just put sheep on the land. Goats, cows, and horses work too. Just watch the grass length.
This is very ‘green’ as there is no electricity or hydrocarbons being burned in a mower.
Wait! AlGore the manbearpig called and forbids your use of sheep. They poop and pass gas that contains CO2 & CO. He WILL let you continue using sheep, so long as you cough up some AlGore dollars he calls “carbon credits”. Even then, he’ll likely require you only use his patented, genetically-modified ManBearSheep.
LOL
Report Post »hillbillyinny
Posted on June 14, 2011 at 6:51am@ wildbill_b
Currently, too many of our veterinary students (and graduate veterinarians) do not come from the world of farming or in some cases, even pet animals other than cats! These individuals just “love animals,” pay large amounts in student loans and really don’t want ot be veterinarians to farm animals–there is no return, “pet people” will pay any amount to “save” Poopsie!
People today are so far removed from animals and even common sense that knowledge that was known by every animal owner has been lost and replaced with information from food advertising companies, pharmaceutical companies and “Humane” Societies (who should be working with humans instead of mucking in animal rights and pulling heart-strings to get money!
Every animal should be cared for adequately or better, they should be respected for the animal the are and cared for and fed from from the direction of the needs of that specific animal. Not being informed or involved in animals is our loss and opens the door for those who want to skew information “fed” to the public concerning these wonderful beings. When that quesitonable information comes through young veterinarians it is really frustrating!
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