A Far North Queensland farmer is trialling guinea pigs to control weeds on his farm and he says besides being absolutely adorable, they are also "extremely effective".
Guinea pigs have long served us as cute and cuddly pets, but until now, their talent for converting weeds into fertiliser has been largely overlooked by the agriculture industry.
Sheep, goats and cattle are the usual livestock employed for the task, but their hooves compact and erode soil.
Goats in particular are known for eating trees, fruit crops, and other things a farmer would prefer they did not.
Biodynamic farmer John Gargan has come up with a novel solution, adding 50 weed-busters of a totally different stature to his operation at Mutchilba, west of Cairns.
"A lot of people think I'm crazy, but I just get so much joy out of these little guys doing their job," Mr Gargan said.
"And the job they're doing is quite amazing, you know.
"They're really doing a number on this grass, it was right up into the trees and quite dense and green, and they've only been here a week and now it's mown beautifully."
Mr Gargan has been farming for 60 years, but he has never been afraid to try new things on his farm.
Fifteen years ago he took up biodynamic farming, and two years ago he started syntropic farming — planting multiple tree species together on a two-acre plot to create a flourishing natural "food forest".
Now he's added hundreds of metres of specialised fencing around each of his tree alleys, to create the perfect habitat for his unorthodox new recruits.
The huge pens include drinking water dispensers, and shelters made from corrugated iron, wooden pallets, and plastic pipes where the guinea pigs can hide from birds of prey.
Mr Gargan said the idea to use guinea pigs on his farm came to him "in the middle of the night".
"I know they can eat a lot of grass, and I thought, well they don't climb, and they don't burrow, so they can probably be contained," he said.
"So I thought, if the guinea pigs can keep it trim, it saves so much work, and it's worth a try."
Mr Gargan said he put shelters around his pineapples and some of the smaller trees to stop the guinea pigs from chewing them, but by and large they were leaving his crops alone.
To protect his miniature livestock, Mr Gargan said he was considering placing cat traps on his farm, and electrifying the top wire of the guinea pig enclosure to keep out snakes.
He said he would keep males and females separated until he built more enclosures.
"Once their numbers increase, there'll be some loss to predators, but I don't think it'll be significant because they should be able to keep ahead of the game.
"Everyone tells me they breed like guinea pigs."
A gaggle of farm labourers
Rodents are not the only unusual helpers Mr Gargan has on his farm.
In a separate enclosure, he is using a flock of geese to convert cover crops like sun-hemp into manure.
"This is really just an experiment as well, but I'm really pleased with what they're doing, because that crop is at the stage where it needs to be eaten off and the geese have been able to do that," he said.
"So the geese have eaten that all down and now they're transferring all that onto the tree rows.
"And if you walk on this paddock, it's just like walking on an inner spring mattress because it's so soft and spongy, because the geese don't compact.
"It's really gratifying to see such an abundance of production."
