[amanda]

Hi all, has anyone still got ragwort growing in their fields? I sprayed mine earlier in the year with Depitox, which was advised by Mole Valley Farmers, however it did not kill all the ragwort or weeds! It was a very dry spell though...and ive just this week sprayed again with the same stuff although a stronger solution and im praying it is going to work! I have loads and loads of little growths of it and i can't understand where it has all come from as i did not have much last year and as soon as it appeared i pulled it! My horses are fenced in a small area eating haylage as i cannot let them graze the fields but it is worrying me as i wanted to fertilise as the grazing is not very good. Any advice would be gratefully recieved!!
Amanda

[Hardfeather]

Ragwort is biennial. It grows as a rosette the first year, and grows on and develops flowers and seeds the second year. Therefore, there are always ragwort plants in a sward, or seeds ready to germinate. It is very difficult to eradicate, particularly as seeds travel great distances on the wind..

[amanda]

Oh well that makes sense then, this must be the first year of growth as they are very small with a few larger rosetts, which are harder to see and pull making it a bit of a nightmare! I thought it died off by this time of year...shows how little i know! Thank u for that info tho..

[maybelle]

I try and get it out as soon as i see it that way hopefully it wont go to seed and spread 

[lazybee]

I put a couple of posts on here a few months ago about ragwort that maybe of interest



First this:
"Since moving to France, I've changed my thoughts on Ragwort. Everyone in the UK seems paranoid about it. There are many many myths about ragwort in the UK. Yes it is toxic, so are many other plants that are more dangerous. I was told ragwort doesn't grow in France. So finding it growing on my land I took a sample to my vet. It was identified as ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris(herbe de saint Jacques)as I knew. The vet (biggest large animal vet in the area)had to look it up in the veterinary reference book. It was only classified as a medium risk. The book also states that between 5 and 25% of body weight have to be consumed to cause a problem. I still pull it up when I see it though."

And this:


"I do pull ragwort when I walk past it (out of habit), BUT a horse will have to eat between 5 and 25% of body weight to cause a problem. They don't eat it at all when green and only in hay. This would mean a horse would have to eat a whole bale or more of pure ragwort hay to cause any ill affects. There are more myths and old wives tails with ragwort than any other plant. It doesn't build up in the body (myth). There are so many more plants that are more toxic. Yew for example. There are no laws to control ragwort either (another myth) I don't want to cause a big argument as this isn't just my opinion but facts. So in a nutshell don't worry about a little ragwort"

[Sylvia]

Our fields were full of ragwort when we bought them. The only sure way to clear it is to pull it out before it seeds and even then it takes a couple of years to get rid of it completely.
I remember as a child we would never complain of being bored. We were given a pair of gloves and a thistle-spudder and told to clear ragwort and thistles!

[amanda]

Thanks for those comments, i suppose i better get up there then and start pulling!!

[darkbrowneggs]

Hi - a few links on ragwort if anyone is interested

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobaea_vulgaris
http://www.ragwortfacts.com/ragwort-law.html
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Senecio%20jacobaea

All the best
Sue
Dark Brown Eggs

[bazzais]

I would have thought that over the lifetime of a horse it would eat many, many, many times its own body weight!!

Remember when pulling ragwort use your bodyweight and not your back to pull it up.  Grab hold of the top part of the plant and push it against you inner thigh (if they are tall enough), then lean backwards using your leg as a 'lever' - once you get the knack its a breeze!!

Ta

Barry

[amanda]

Thanks, those links really interesting!

[sabrina]

As far as I know it is against the law to graze any animal in a field of ragwort in Scotland although no one seems to enforce the law. I only know of one horse owner who had to move his ponies and this was enforced by the RSPA Scottish Branch. Two pounds of ragwort is enough to kill a horse, having seen ponies die of this I  would not wish it on anyone. My friend lost her horse a few years ago, the ragwort had been in her hay that she bought, she had been told it was ragwort free. Its also possible to make your neighbour control ragwort on their land if you are growing a crop that will be fed to animals, friend took her neighbour to court and won her case.

[sheila]

Can anyone post a photo of it growing in situ so that I can look out for it.? I don't think it is a problem in my neighbourhood

[lazybee]

As far as I know it is against the law to graze any animal in a field of ragwort in Scotland although no one seems to enforce the law. I only know of one horse owner who had to move his ponies and this was enforced by the RSPA Scottish Branch. Two pounds of ragwort is enough to kill a horse, having seen ponies die of this I  would not wish it on anyone. My friend lost her horse a few years ago, the ragwort had been in her hay that she bought, she had been told it was ragwort free. Its also possible to make your neighbour control ragwort on their land if you are growing a crop that will be fed to animals, friend took her neighbour to court and won her case.

Sorry but this is not true it takes between 5 and 25% of body weight to cause any problems and is only classified a medium risk. There are no controls either.

http://www.ragwortfacts.com/

[lachlanandmarcus]

Strictly there isnt a law against allowing ragwort to grow BUT there is now a code of practice , the breaching of which can be used as evidence in the neglect and abuse cases brought by the likes of RSPCA.

So the code itself isnt statutory but failing to adhere to it can be contributory evidence of the wider offence. Like the 'five freedoms' it sets out what a horse should be expected to be provided for, and in this case, protected from.

In practice the stuff is everywhere, our place it had been left to run riot for 30 years before we came, so its an ongoing fight, as well as hours and hours of pulling it we are having 5 fields ploughed and reseeded as part of the battle. (Spraying is tricky with ours and nighbours well water supply close by).

[darkbrowneggs]

Photos of ragwort

All the best
Sue
Dark Brown Eggs