Ragwort question

[Johny Walker]

it seems to be rife every ware nowadays,

[daveatdave]

grazon pro should do it and will not kill the grass but there is a prime time to spray for ragwort

[headgroundsman]

Barrier H

[philcaegrug]

A ragfork is what I use available at most agricultural merchants. Also be careful as the whole plant is poisonous so wear gloves. Each plant can have a few thousand seeds and they can lie dormant in the soil for up to 20 years waiting for a bit of disturbance.

[SteveA]

Yes it's so toxic that it's been rated as being 10,000 times more toxic than it really is by the British Horse a Society.... who's ever heard of something actually dropping dead (in the real world) from eating Ragwort?....

cheers, Steve

[Graham w]

pulling ragwart is a waste of time! i find when you pull one out the root system will shoot up another 8 or so.

 

the best way to kill them off is to spray 3 times a year

 

first is early on when they are coming through

second is after the first to top up the first lot and catch the second growth

third is in the back end when next years are lot getting ready

 

and do this for three years or grow some tesco that end them:lol:

[farmer rod]

  SteveA said:

Yes it's so toxic that it's been rated as being 10,000 times more toxic than it really is by the British Horse a Society.... who's ever heard of something actually dropping dead (in the real world) from eating Ragwort?....

cheers, Steve

 

Steve, I used to be pretty sceptical about its deadly powers, but I have always pulled out any Ive seen, either on our farm or anywhere Ive been making hay. Two years ago I found a young bullock flopping around at the back of the shed trying to die, he was the youngest of the bunch but not generally weak. There was a handful of ragwort stems left in the bottom of the ring feeder, all the other animals had presumably known they were bad news. The vet agreed it seemed like ragwort poisoning, there is no real treatment but we kept his guts running and he got better. So now I~m a believer and keep pulling it out,

 

Rod

[SteveA]

Yes - Ragwort is definitely toxic and your bullock is a good example of what can happen when it is munched.... but it didn't die.

 

They reckon between 5% and 25% of its body weight in Ragwort would need to be consumed to be poisoned, which is a fair amount: How toxic is Ragwort?

Cheers, Steve

[sueonmull]

  SteveA said:

Everything you need to know about Ragwort is here: Ragwort Facts. All the ragwort science and information that you need to know. cheers, Steve

 

The person who wrote the ‘ragwort facts’ website works with an environmental group that wants to repeal the Weeds Act and Ragwort Control Act, perhaps worth bearing this in mind when reading.

My own personal view is shown in more detail in post #52 here http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/general-chat/89098-ragwort-6.html#post1317369

Ragwort is fine if it's not allowed to dominate an area but it doesn’t belong in or near livestock grazing or land used to produce preserved forage. Under the risk assessment outlined in the Ragwort Code of Practice removal of ragwort is usually only required within 50m of grazing land/land used to produce forage.

[farmer rod]

  sueonmull said:

The person who wrote the ‘ragwort facts’ website works with an environmental group that wants to repeal the Weeds Act and Ragwort Control Act, perhaps worth bearing this in mind when reading.

My own personal view is shown in more detail in post #52 here http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/general-chat/89098-ragwort-6.html#post1317369

Ragwort is fine if it's not allowed to dominate an area but it doesn’t belong in or near livestock grazing or land used to produce preserved forage. Under the risk assessment outlined in the Ragwort Code of Practice removal of ragwort is usually only required within 50m of grazing land/land used to produce forage.

 

Thanks for your analysis Sue, I read some of it and concluded that is was written in the style of evangelical claptrap, and I couldnt see any authors name.