Ragwort

[Daniël Bos]

It does. Mowing or pulling turns it into a perennial. So if you want to get rid of it, you either need to spray (autumn then spring with Headland Polo has worked well for me), or you have to ragfork and treat each hole with rock salt to kill the roots. The latter is incredibly time-consuming.

 

Mowing or pulling-without-salting are just emergency control measures that simply aggravate the problem in the long term if not followed up effectively.

 

Salting soil is exceptionally damaging to soil flora and fauna, a damage that can take many decades to overcome.

 

The way I control the amount of ragwort (for the sake of my neighbours, I rather like the stuff) is by cutting the fully mature flower heads off.

If you wait for the flowers to fully mature, the plant has already fulfilled its life cycle and started to die off. Cut if too early and the plant will either produce more flowers the same year or grow again next year.

 

Cutting just the flower heads takes very little effort (I can clear a couple of acres/hour vs two-three full days/acre if pulling/digging) and you have much less material to dispose off.

 

It also leaves the first year plants and the lower halves of the second years as caterpillar habitat.

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

It's toxic to most livestock and humans from handling so use good gloves.

[Stubby]

It's toxic to most livestock and humans from handling so use good gloves.

 

Not according to post # 10 on page 3 .....

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

Not according to post # 10 on page 3 .....

 

Seen sheep with issues on land being used to control the weeds and having picked large areas of Ragwort Fields can confirm human sickness.

[Marko]

I've been on the google to Mull!

But I have always suspected that Ragwort has been over demonised by the horse fraternity.

None of the vets I have asked around here have ever positively identified a case. Usually they put it down to Ragwort when they run out of other ideas.

Horses are the most vulnerable not only because they are tender animals but because they live so much longer than cattle and sheep which are murdered much younger.

 

 

From Google

MYTH: Ragwort is "extremely toxic" to horses.

 

FALSE . This claim was made by the British Horse Society in a survey in 2014. It over estimates the toxicity of ragwort by around TEN THOUSAND TIMES! See Ragwort is not extremely toxic

 

MYTH: Ragwort is a foreign plant that has invaded the UK

FALSE . Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris formerly called Senecio jacobaea) is a common native British Plant. You may be confusing it with Oxford Ragwort which is a foreign coloniser.

 

MYTH: Ragwort has increased in the UK and is spreading across the country like a plague.

 

Sources for this myth

 

FALSE. Ragwort like all other wildflowers subject to regular surveys by botanists. The recent surveys show its distribution has not changed significantly since the 1960s. The 2007 UK Countryside Survey shows significant declines of ragwort.

 

MYTH: A sudden dramatic crash and disappearance of the Cinnabar Moth population has caused a plague of Ragwort.

 

Sources for this myth

 

FALSE. The cinnabar moth, whose caterpillars eat ragwort , has declined but this is in numbers not distribution. The Rothamstead survey moths traps that were catching them still are but in reduced numbers. Since the ragwort population is declining or stable rather than increased the evidence is firmly against this myth. As stated above there is no real ragwort plague.

 

MYTH: Under the Weeds Act 1959 landowners must by law control Ragwort on their land.

 

Sources for the legal myths

 

FALSE. The 1959 weeds act gives the Government the power to order a landowner to prevent certain weeds from spreading. However without such an order, there is no legal obligation on a landowner to do anything. See Ragwort and the law.

 

MYTH: Under the Ragwort Control Act 2003 landowners must by law control Ragwort on their land.

 

Sources for the legal myths

 

FALSE. This act provides for the government to produce a guide to ragwort control. It places no obligation on landowners at all. See Ragwort Control Act 2003.

 

MYTH: Under the Town and Country Planning Act Section 215 landowners must by law control on their land.

 

See this link for a debunking of the story which carried this and other myths in Your Horse magazine

 

FALSE. This act provides for powers for councils to order landowners to tidy up unkempt areas. This isn't meant to cover ragwort and doesn't create any automatic liability anyway. See Town and Country Planning Act Section 215

 

MYTH: The law says that government departments or local councils must control ragwort.

 

Sources for the legal myths

 

FALSE. There is no obligation in any of the legislation. There is no obligation on local councils and the powers granted to DEFRA and its equivalent bodies are discretionary.

 

MYTH: It's not an offence for ragwort to grow in certain areas, but spread of ragwort onto high-risk land is an offence.

 

FALSE. This is a direct quote from The British Horse Society's Ragwort Toolkit. but as all the other myths about the law it is false.

 

MYTH: Ragwort is a "Notifiable Weed"

 

FALSE. There is no such thing as a notifiable weed under UK law. There is no obligation to tell anyone about Ragwort . See Ragwort the Notifiable weed falsehood

 

MYTH: A tiny amount of Ragwort will kill a horse or a cow.

 

FALSE. Research has shown that a very significant amount of Ragwort is required to kill. This can be several stone in weight. See How toxic is Ragwort .

 

MYTH: Every tiny amount of ragwort consumed will cause damage.

 

FALSE. The biochemistry shows that this is not the case. See Ragwort cumulative.

 

MYTH: Ragwort can poison a horse even when it is not in a field.

 

This quote comes from Equiworld magazine and it has been repeated elsewhere."It has been said that horses can get Ragwort poisoning without the plants growing in their fields. Spores or seeds or both get carried by wind from anywhere where people are irresponsible enough not to pull those plants up in their gardens or fields. Horses will inhale the seeds or spores whilst grazing and the slow process of poisoning will begin."

 

FALSE. Ragwort has seeds not spores! It is highly unlikely that any seeds would enter a horse through breathing. Research has shown that the overwhelming vast majority of seeds do not disperse far from the parent plant. (See ragwort dispersal) In any case the scientific literature shows takes a very large quantity of Ragwort to poison a horse. The seeds present no threat.

 

MYTH: The Meat from animals that have eaten ragwort is toxic.

 

FALSE. It is only the damage from prolonged heavy exposure that does damage to the animals.The toxins do not persist in the meat. See Ragwort Meat

 

MYTH: It is OK to uproot ragwort where ever you see it

 

FALSE. It is illegal to uproot any wild plant if you are not authorised by the owner or occupier of the land on which it grows See Ragwort is sometimes protected.

 

MYTH: Ragwort is dangerous to human beings

 

FALSE. Ragwort is not a poison of any consequence to humans and the plant and poses no serious risk to people see. Ragwort poisoning in Humans for a short explanation and Ragwort Humans for a longer one. Because this is a common myth that really upsets people a special simple non-technical explanation of this is available here Ragwort poisoning humans

 

MYTH: The alkaloids in ragwort build up in animals' livers

 

FALSE. In 2008 the Scottish Government issued a consultation on ragwort containing the following quote "Chronic ragwort poisoning is most common as PAs [pyrrolizidine Alkaloids] build up in the liver over time." Despite being a government publication this is WRONG. The alkaloids DO NOT build up in the liver only the damage that they can do does. It is a good example of the poor understanding of ragwort that is prevalent even in official circles.

 

MYTH: Ragwort is a risk to the health of dogs.

 

Sources for the dog myth

 

FALSE. Dogs are not threatened by ragwort as it is not toxic enough and they do not eat it. See Ragwort and dogs

 

MYTH: 70% of Ragwort Seeds can germinate after 20 years in the soil.

 

FALSE. The British Horse Society made this claim on their website. The apparent source of the 20 years figure is a scientific paper predicting when only 1% of the seeds could germinate See Ragwort germination myth

 

MYTH: Common ragwort may have contaminated bread and poisoned people in South Africa.

 

FALSE. This claim was made by Professor Derek Knottenbelt but the experts in South Africa say that our ragwort does not occur there and the literature says it was other species of plants. See Ragwort South Africa Myth

 

MYTH: Ragwort is poisoning the cinnabar moth and causing its population to decline.

 

FALSE. This crazy idea is another one associated with Professor Knottenbelt. The cinnabar is reliant on ragwort as its food and is not poisoned by it, See Ragwort does not poison the cinnbar moth.

 

Some of these myths have led to action by the advertising regulator in the UK. See British Horse Society and Advertising Standards Authority

Some have also occured on a facebook forum discussing Ragwort Awareness Week

 

Don't shoot the messenger but, if the above is true, someone needs to tell .gov as they still have ragwort down as a danger to animals, controlled by law and subject to enforcement action if allowed to spread. https://www.gov.uk/prevent-the-spread-of-harmful-invasive-and-non-native-plants

[Stubby]

Seen sheep with issues on land being used to control the weeds and having picked large areas of Ragwort Fields can confirm human sickness.

 

Im with you . Pulled pleanty in horses field . No problems for myself . I always understood the danger was if it is dried out and the possibility of it getting baled up with hay .

[CallumA]

tansy is a different plant but easilly mistaken for ragwort.

From google

Jacobaea vulgaris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobaea_vulgaris

Common names include ragwort, common ragwort, tansy ragwort, benweed, ... 8 Other usage; 9 Literature, poetry and mythology; 10 Cultivation; 11 See also ...

[ThrustSSC]

Salting soil is exceptionally damaging to soil flora and fauna, a damage that can take many decades to overcome.

 

The way I control the amount of ragwort (for the sake of my neighbours, I rather like the stuff) is by cutting the fully mature flower heads off.

If you wait for the flowers to fully mature, the plant has already fulfilled its life cycle and started to die off. Cut if too early and the plant will either produce more flowers the same year or grow again next year.

 

Cutting just the flower heads takes very little effort (I can clear a couple of acres/hour vs two-three full days/acre if pulling/digging) and you have much less material to dispose off.

 

It also leaves the first year plants and the lower halves of the second years as caterpillar habitat.

 

A bit of salt here and there doesn't harm. It's nothing like the quantities put on roads every winter - to the extent that seaside plants are now working inland along the road verges.

 

And enjoy the cutting. Spraying did the job for me very nicely - in fact I'm absolutely delighted with the results on my land this year. Wish I'd taken that approach 5 years ago.

[openspaceman]

From google

Jacobaea vulgaris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobaea_vulgaris

Common names include ragwort, common ragwort, tansy ragwort, benweed, ... 8 Other usage; 9 Literature, poetry and mythology; 10 Cultivation; 11 See also ...

 

I think the term tansy ragwort is only used in america, here it refers to tanacetum vulgare

[CallumA]

I think the term tansy ragwort is only used in america, here it refers to tanacetum vulgare

 

We lads that speak doric ( Aberdeenshire dialect ) just call them tansys not tansy ragwort.