A new case study released this month details how Calum and Belinda Carruth of Murchison House Station, near Kalbarri in Western Australia, are turning conventional wisdom about feral goats on its head, managing them as an asset to restore a fragile and ecologically unique landscape.

Published by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) and Soils for Life under the Southern Rangelands Revitalisation Program (SRRP), the case study chronicles the Carruths’ journey from taking over a heavily degraded, unmanaged 126,000-hectare pastoral lease in 2005 to building one of the most innovative goat management systems in the state.

At the heart of their approach is a 9 km linear trap yard; a purpose-built fenced laneway that intercepts the migratory path of wild ‘rangeland goats’ before they reach the fragile Pillawarra land system, a formation so unique that 99% of it exists only on their property. Water troughs and tanks spaced every 2 km lure goats into the yard, where automatic gates triggered remotely via mobile phone lock them in for mustering. The result is a safer, cheaper and lower-emissions operation that the Carruths believe will pay for itself within five years.

Early exclusion cells, small fenced plots protecting the Pillawarra from all grazing have already shown striking results, with native grasses and chenopod shrubs returning within just two years. The case study also explores the couple’s broader use of remote water monitoring, wifi repeaters across rugged terrain, and their ambition to eventually fence the entire Pillawarra system, creating a 70 km regeneration zone and living seed bank.

The SRRP is jointly funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the WA State Government’s Climate Resilience Fund. Murchison House Station is one of seven pastoral properties featured in the program’s case study series.