The harder you make a worker work, the more you ought to pay them. Irrespective of who it is that you are hiring, whether a human or a goat, fair pay is important for all employees. Why would anybody hire goats you wonder? What is it that goats could do better than we humans couldn't? Because of new wage laws, firefighting goats that eat vegetation to keep wildfires from spreading may soon be too expensive to employ. Tall, dry grass, according to Jason Poupolo, Parks Superintendent for the city of West Sacramento, California, becomes "perfect fuel for a fire" when left uncut and unmanaged. This is where the goats enter the picture, according to the Daily Star. "It's a huge fuel source. If it was left untamed, it can grow very high. And then when the summer dries everything out," said Poupolo.

Because goats can eat a wide variety of vegetation and graze in steep, rocky terrain that is difficult to access, targeted grazing is part of California's strategy to reduce wildfire risk. Backers argue that they are a more environmentally friendly alternative to chemical herbicides or noisy and polluting weed-whacking machines. Animals are rented out by specialized companies to graze the problem away in a controlled environment under the supervision of a human counterpart, reports The Independent. However, due to a change in labor laws, goatherds will be subject to the same labor laws as other farm workers and will be entitled to costly overtime, which means their wages could reach a whopping $14,000. 

Wages have risen sharply year after year and companies typically pass the extra cost on to their customers but it is rising again and becoming unsustainable. According to the California Farm Bureau, the changes could raise herders' monthly wages from about $3,730 to $14,000. Typically, one herder is in charge of 400 goats in a company. Many of the herders in California are from Peru and they live in trailers provided by their employers near grazing areas. Labor advocates argue that the state should investigate goatherders' working and living conditions before making changes to the law, especially since the state is funding goat grazing to reduce wildfire risk. 

"My phone rings off the hook this time of year," said Tim Arrowsmith, owner of Western Grazers, which is providing grazing services to West Sacramento. "The demand has grown year after year after year...We will be forced to sell these goats to slaughter and to the auction yards and we’ll be forced out of business and probably file for bankruptcy," he added. However, his company, which is based in the northern California city of Red Bluff, may be jeopardized as a result of the legislative change. Companies could previously pay goatherds and shepherds a monthly minimum salary rather than an hourly minimum wage, but a 2016 law change allows them to be paid overtime. The herders' minimum monthly wage increased from $1,955 in 2019 to $3,730 this year as a result of this change. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, it is expected to reach $4,381 by 2025. Seems like being a goat could pay us a lot more. Time to switch species...