Why some wooly friends are grazing the island across from Bay Beach Amusement Park
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – If you head to Bay Beach Amusement Park this summer, you may notice some sheep across the water.
The farm Wooly Green Grazers will have close to 50 sheep grazing Renard Island to cut down the vegetation on the 55-acre land.
Mark Walter with the Brown County Port & Resource Recovery Center says, “Mechanical mowing chops everything off and leaves it sitting here, seeds and all, so weed seeds and other undesirable vegetation. With the sheep, all the seeds are going to pass through. It’s more sustainable in the long run.”
Sustainably Speaking: Honeybees and springtime pollination and swarming
Renard Island has been growing thick grasses for more than a decade, and the county hopes in the next few years to make the land a place for people to hike, picnic, and enjoy a view of the bay you cannot find anywhere else.
“There are very limited places in the Green Bay metropolitan area where you can go and just see the bay, this is absolutely one of those places. Between the millions of people who go to Bay Beach each year and the fact that this is offering a different experience, I think this is really exciting for the future,” Walter says.
The sheep will graze the land 24/7 from now until October. Shepherd Roxie Emunson is in charge of making sure the sheep stay within the electric fences and none are harmed.
Where you’ll pay the most for gas in Wisconsin this Memorial Day weekend
She says, “Ultimately, [the grass] is excellent for them. We have several mamas out here right now that are still nursing, and we would never put our animals in harm where it could hurt the ewes or the babies.”
You can only see the sheep from the mainland because the island is closed to the public.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
