Monday morning, I pulled up to the Closs farm off Highway 148 in Clarendon with my Christmas tree in the trunk of my car. Meredith Closs, the owner of the goats at her parents’ farm, gave me a hand wrangling my tree out of the trunk and carried it over to the edge of the enclosure where she keeps her herd of goats. Closs then hung the tree up on the fence where the goats were keen to get snacking on it.
“They love the trees,” Closs said. “They’ll take it all the way down to the bark and then even use the trunk to scratch their horns.”
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Closs posted on Facebook inviting people to donate their retired Christmas trees to her farm, to be enjoyed by her goats.
Closs explained that the Christmas trees are good for goats’ digestion, so dropping your tree off is both good for the goats and the environment.
“I tell the kids that eating the trees gives the goats air freshener farts,” Closs said.
“It’s not something we pick up as a municipality. We provide a brush dump but maybe that’s not the best way,” said Shawville mayor Bill McCleary, noting this year the brush disposal site would not be opening for the small window it usually does to receive Christmas trees. He recommended seeing what some farmers might be doing as a way to dispose of trees.
Closs hadn’t realized that there wouldn’t be a way for people to properly dispose of their trees this year, and said that she’d be happy to take in the trees.
“They can just let me know and it’ll be either at [my parents’] place or mine depending on where I’m doing chores,” Closs said. “And if they’re not interested in seeing goats, that’s OK. They can just leave them at the laneway.”
But if people are interested in seeing the goats devour their tree, Closs said she’s happy to show people around.
“Some bring their children and grandchildren and they’re really interested in the goats,” Closs said. “I’ll give them the tour and they can see the goats. If they’re calm, the goats will come to them.”
She said that lots of kids have questions about the goats, and she’s happy to explain it all. Closs has been raising goats for about 10 years now and is a primary producer for goat meat. She also sells her goats to other farmers for reproduction. She said that the goats were her way of diversifying her farming to keep up with the cost of living.
She said that taking an opportunity to bring a Christmas tree to a goat farm is a way for people to learn about agriculture.
“A lot of people are pretty far out from agriculture, so it’s nice to talk to them about it,” Closs said. “Yes, I produce animals for meat but it’s so that families can have healthy food choices. And I’d rather they were raised humanely and follow all the rules and regulations.”
Closs said she received a good number of tree donations a few years ago, she thinks because dropping off a tree and visiting the goats was something people could do while maintaining social distancing, and hopes to see more tree donations this year and in years to come.
“I just do it to be kind and especially for families that like it,” Closs said. “It’s just a fun thing.”
