{"id":1974,"date":"2018-03-28T17:35:33","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T17:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=1974"},"modified":"2025-02-06T14:01:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T19:01:37","slug":"goats-who-would-have-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2018\/03\/28\/goats-who-would-have-thought\/","title":{"rendered":"Goats: Who Would Have Thought?"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column1974_bed136-52 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column1974_bed136-52 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1974_bed136-52 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1974_bed136-52 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1974_bed136-52 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column1974_bed136-52 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column1974_bed136-52 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1974_bed136-52{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1974_bed136-52 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column1974_bed136-52 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1974_bed136-52 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1974_a90f85-9f\">Green Grazer Goats business owner and WilmU student Kalyn Butts won more than $22,000 in cash and prizes in a local Shark Tank-style competition.<\/h2>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image1974_ecc7a8-df.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image1974_ecc7a8-df .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:350px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image1974_ecc7a8-df.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image1974_ecc7a8-df .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image1974_ecc7a8-df figure{max-width:350px;}.kb-image1974_ecc7a8-df .image-is-svg, .kb-image1974_ecc7a8-df .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image1974_ecc7a8-df .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image1974_ecc7a8-df\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/greengrazers-750x428.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-1838\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/greengrazers-750x428.jpg 750w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/greengrazers-250x143.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/greengrazers-768x438.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/greengrazers.jpg 1382w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption>WilmU student Kalyn Butts and partner Kevin Connor manage goats for their award-winning \nbusiness, Green Grazer Goats.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Green Grazer Goats is an eco-friendly farming operation that with goats that uses goats to clear&nbsp;weeds and brush instead of heavy machinery. The goats simply graze the overgrown areas and brush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It all started with Pete, a goat Butts got for her 17th birthday. Sure, her parents thought a goat-inspired business was a \u201chare-brained plan,\u201d but they went with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI researched how businesses in California and other western states used goats to clear brush from wildfires,\u201d says Butts who is pursuing a bachelor\u2019s in Behavioral Science. \u201cThat led me to think about how we could use goats to do similar work near my family\u2019s farm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the next few years, she played around with the idea until Kevin Connor, her boyfriend-turned-business partner, invested in the goat business. In 2016, he surprised Butts with two baby goats named Pumpkin and Petunia for Christmas. The business \u2014 and goats \u2014 were up and running by May of 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Green Grazer Goats alleviates the dangerous chemicals as well, and the business has become an innovative and economical option for customers. The team started with 10 goats, then 41, and now Butts thinks she\u2019ll need at least 60 by spring\u2019s end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGoat brush removal is the best bet for the environment since they create a very small carbon footprint, don\u2019t require toxic chemicals and stabilize the soil,\u201d says Butts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This past September, the Butts, just 24, and Connor wowed the judges at the Emerging Enterprise Center\u2019s \u201cSwim with the Sharks\u201d video pitch competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe judging was based on multiple criteria, including clarity of message and vision, value proposition and feasibility of the business concept,\u201d says Dora Cheatham, program manager for the Wilmington-based Emerging Enterprise Center, which helps start-up owners grow their businesses and develop long-term, sustainable models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She learned about the competition by attending a Young Professional Networking group hosted by the New Castle Chamber of Commerce in WilmU\u2019s Pratt Student Center. She even hired fellow student, Taylor Moore, to produce the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, Butts wants to put her new degree to work by hosting a therapeutic program camp that would serve people with emotional disorders, and goats have been to known to aid in such therapies. For now, she\u2019s just happy chasing goats. WU<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2014Britney Gulledge<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Green Grazer Goats business owner and WilmU student Kalyn Butts won more than $22,000 in cash and prizes in a local Shark Tank-style competition. Green&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[163,135],"tags":[650],"class_list":["post-1974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifewilmu","category-magazine","tag-magazine-spring-2018"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":163,"label":"LIFE@WILMU"},{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":650,"label":"Magazine Spring 2018"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/greengrazers-750x428.jpg",750,428,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Eric Mumford","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/eric\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":163,"name":"LIFE@WILMU","slug":"lifewilmu","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":720,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":90,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":163,"category_count":90,"category_description":"","cat_name":"LIFE@WILMU","category_nicename":"lifewilmu","category_parent":0},{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":650,"name":"Magazine Spring 2018","slug":"magazine-spring-2018","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1207,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":18,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14603,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions\/14603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}