Grazing Arizona: Ranchers Build Business with a Goat Herd They Call Family
Sheep and goats scrunch together in a trailer to graze at their next location at The Preserve at Saddlebrook in Saddlebrook, AZ, on Oct. 27, 2026. (Photo by Gisela Contreras/Cronkite News)
Grazing Arizona: Ranchers Build Business with a Goat Herd They Call Family
by Noah Flug
November 2, 2026
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TUCSON – The road into SaddleBrooke TWO stretches three miles into the foothills north of Tucson. Large Tuscan-style homes with two-car garages sit behind pristine yards. Residents jog along well-maintained paths as the summer heat finally starts to relent. A country club overlooks the golf course, where carts whiz from hole to hole.
Behind them, 230 goats eat their way through grass and brush.
Passing drivers call out, “Look, it’s the goats!” as workers load the herd into a trailer, then release them into another area to graze.
Andrew Stanford does his best to keep the animals moving in the right direction.
“With me, with me, come,” he calls to Orion, a herding dog whose enthusiasm sometimes sends goats away from where they are supposed to go.
“He’s still learning,” Andrew says, guiding the miniature Australian shepherd to the back of the herd.
Andrew and his wife, Heather, operate Natures Surprise Ranch, an Arizona targeted grazing business that hires out goats and sheep to clear vegetation. Their work ranges from overgrown yards to common areas in communities such as SaddleBrooke TWO, where the animals graze near homes and a golf course.
The couple said their herd has grown from 30 to roughly 250 in two years. Many of the animals were given to them by owners who could no longer care for them.
“It’s still not enough,” Andrew says, as they try to keep up with demand.
Heather Stanford, left, and Andrew Stanford herd their sheep and goats into their trailer to graze at their next location at The Preserve at Saddlebrook in Saddlebrook, AZ, on Oct. 27, 2026. (Photo by Gisela Contreras/Cronkite News)
Before becoming professional goat scapers, Heather worked in a restaurant while Andrew did tile work. A friend asked if they could bring their goats to clear out his overgrown property in Oracle. The couple initially turned down the offer, worried about the cost of fencing and equipment.
When they finally said yes, word quickly spread and neighbors started calling.
Both now run the business full time, taking jobs across Arizona. At SaddleBrooke, they work with a crew to manage and move the herd. They estimate the animals grazed about 25 acres of land there over the last two months.
The goats chew down grass, shrubs, and cactus in each fenced area. Their manure helps return nutrients to the soil as they feed, but whether it’s more effective than traditional landscaping depends on the plants and the timing of grazing.
Flavie Audoin, a University of Arizona assistant professor and rangeland management specialist, studies those effects.