Scotch broom was introduced to the United States from Europe as an ornamental garden plant and was also used for packing material.  In spite of its gorgeous yellow flowers, it really needs to be eradicated.  It is highly flammable, displaces native plants and forest growth, and can even impede wildlife movement. It’s toxic to livestock (but goats do fine with it along with some protein supplementation).  

Broom seeds are resilient and long-lived in soil (when broom seeds were fed to goats, only 8% of the seeds remained viable following ingestion). But removing individual plants  - by hand or by goat - is worthwhile. Small plants can be pulled out, but the larger ones need to be knocked back by goat browsing or an uprooter tool. There is also a new broom mite on the scene which can eradicate broom plants.

On our home ranch in Nevada City, CA the goats (and sheep, actually!) have done a pretty good job on the broom. Given the right time of year (winter, fall, or summer - not spring!) they will destroy small and medium sized brooms. Very large brooms with thick woody stems are not appealing to the livestock. All in all we have about an 80% reduction in broom with several years of annual browsing. See some photos:

2026 © Restoration Land & Livestock.