Goats may be the latest victim of California‘s red tape laws. Changes in state labor requirements for herders may affect both businesses and the environment as wildfire season approaches.
Goat herders were recently reclassified by California labor regulators and given a separate distinction from sheepherders. Now, goat herders will not be eligible for monthly compensation and will instead receive hourly pay plus required overtime — a decision that will make it difficult for employers to keep their goat herder business afloat.
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For the past couple of years, there was an exception for goat and sheep herders for these payment rules, but that exemption is set to expire on Jan. 1, 2024.
Before, herders received a monthly compensation of a minimum of $2,755 plus required overtime. With the new rule, employers will be forced to pay farm workers an hourly rate of $15.50 plus required overtime.
Industry leaders and the California Farm Bureau estimate the change in salary will increase pay from about $3,730 to $14,000, according to the California Farm Bureau via Associated Press.
“We can’t afford that; cities can’t afford that,” Tim Arrowsmith, owner and manager of Western Grazers, told the Los Angeles Times. His business employs a few dozen herders for his several thousand goats.
Daniel Jaureguy, a local sheep herder/owner in northern San Luis Obispo County in California, told local outlet NBC 6 KSBY that he has already been struggling with the law.
“We’ve had to cut back a couple of guys because we can’t afford them anymore,” Jaureguy said.
Not only will this affect employers on a financial level, but the raise in overtime pay could have a significant effect on wildlife preservation and protection. Goats are used for targeted grazing, a strategy used by California to reduce the risk of wildfires, a natural disaster the state is prone to.
The animals can eat a wide range of vegetation and graze in steep areas and rocky terrain that is hard to access and clear. During wildfire season, goats are in high demand to devour weeds and shrubs.
“It’s a huge fuel source. If it was left untamed, it can grow very high. And then when the summer dries everything out, it’s perfect fuel for a fire,” Jason Poupolo, City of West Sacramento parks superintendent, said of the vegetation.
California’s new laws for herders could backfire on the state’s wildfire prevention tactics, especially after a drought-heavy winter and flooding in December 2022 that cost the state $5 million in damages.
One herder is usually in charge of 400 goats, but with an increase in herder pay, employees will maintain fewer herders, and the number of goats available for vegetation control will decrease.
Before 2016, companies opted for a monthly salary rather than hourly due to the job requiring herders to be on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The legislation in 2016 boosted herders’ monthly pay from $1,955 in 2019 to $3,730 in 2023. In 2025, the California Department of Industrial Relations predicts the payments will hit $4,381.
Now, with the exception expiring at the beginning of 2024, herders will be subject to the same laws as other farm workers. Goat herding companies will have to drastically raise their rates, which will ultimately make goat grazing services unaffordable.
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“We fully support increasing wages for herders, but $14,000 a month is not realistic. So we need to address that in order to allow these goat-grazing operations to exist,” said Brian Shobe, deputy policy director for the California Climate and Agriculture Network.
“I can’t pay $14,000 a month to an employee starting Jan. 1. There’s just not enough money. The cities can’t absorb that kind of cost,” Arrowsmith said. “What’s at stake for the public is your house could burn up because we can’t fire-mitigate.”
