Ragwort

Hi,
completely new to gardening - actually we recently moved into an equestrian farm and wehave been made aware of the 1959 weeds act - which means we have to remove any deadly weeds (to the horses) and one of them being ragwort (even bad long term for human touching)
questino - Does anyone know if i can buy a spray /chemical to irradicate this weed and keep the grass but not hurt the horses?
thanks
peter
www.deepmill.com
p.s. anyone is welcome to collect free manure from our muck heap

 

You can but I don't know what its called. The farmer's merchants should sort you out. It will keep coming back though. If it is already pretty much under control then the trick is to just do a quick patrol every week or so during the growing season and when you spot one, rip it out roots and all, and burn it.

Incidentally, Ragwort is not as deadly as many think. A horse would have to eat its own weight in Ragwort in order for irreversible liver damage (and failure leading to death) to occur. There are other wild plants that are more poisonous than Ragwort. The reason why this particular fellow has its own law made for it is that it spreads so freely and while young, blends in with the grass.If you spot any, you need to get rid of it before it goes to seed.

You also need to be aware that the dangerous weeds act doesn't actually outlaw Ragwort, it just means you have to get rid of it from sites grazed by livestock, or sites that are within so many metres of a field boundary where livestock graze. Your neighbours have the same obligation (whether they keep livestock or not, because you do), so if you see any on their side of the boundary be sure to let them know.

 

The best way, perhaps the hardest it to folk out the ragwort plants before they go to seed and create a bigger problem.

To use chemicals on your plot, you would have to be certified to buy the chemical etc, and asking a local farmer or landscape company to help you out would be an alternative to the 'hard work' option. But this will cost money rather than time.

I understand that horses will not touch ragwort when it is a living plant, but they can not detect it once it's been cut (in hay for example), and that is where the problems can begin. I've never owned a horse, but that is what horsey friends tell me.

Hope this Helps!

 

This is true. Horses are surprisingly choosy animals. When we had horses years ago one of our friends offered one of the horses a sandwich, which the horse took. On discovering it was an egg sandwich the horse literally spat it out and his eyes filled with anger and he went for out freind that had given him the offending sandwich.

Once ragwort is cut and dried though, especially if it is mixed with hay, the horse can't tell its in there.

It takes a lot of ragwort to kill a horse, but the toxins take a long time to leave their system so it can build up to harmful (and even fatal) levels over time.

Catch it before it goes to seed and keep an eye out for it. If it is an option, it is better to prevent the spread of ragwort on and near grazing land. This is especially important where cattle and sheep graze as they are less choosy about what they eat.

 

My understanding was that the toxins damage the liver and that damage is irreversible and cumulative. A horse can survive with a LOT of liver damage and show very few symptoms. Once you reach the point of obvious symptoms the only recourse left is often euthanasia :(

 

The liver is, as far as I'm aware, the only organ that can regenerate itself. If a horse was to eat one Ragwort plant, then as far as I know its liver would mend over time (albeit a long time). I wouldn't say that with certainty though as I'm not a vet. But yes, once the horse shows symptoms it is almost certainly too late for the poor beast.

The blessing is though that a horse will never choose to eat Ragwort, so the presence of Ragwort in a field grazed by horses is not the death sentence that many believe it is. As someone else said, the biggest problem with Ragwort as far as horses are concerned is if it inadvertently gets harvested, dried, and served up in the hay as the horse won't detect it that way.

Ragwort must still be controlled either way though. You don't get farms in city centres so it is a safe assumption that the equestrian farm in question is in the vicinity of other farms occupied by less choosy animals.

 

That's true, but I think the way the ragwort toxins work means the liver can't regenerate in this instance. I found this that gets a bit techy but explains it much better than I can:

They're hoping they're well on the way to developing a simple blood test that would indicate whether a horse is suffering from a low level of rag wort poisoning, which would give owners/carers the chance to take preventative measures before drastic action is required.

 

That's very interesting. We learn something new every day. The key is to keep Ragwort under control. Not just in the field being grazed but also in the vicinity (as required by the dangerous weeds act). A horse won't choose to eat living Ragwort, but as it produces such large amounts of tiny seed I can't imagine a horse being able to tell that the seeds are among the grass it is eating.