Ragwort in hay

[Muddipaws]

Hi all

My yard insists on buying hay from them which I don't have a problem with. If ragwort appears in our paddocks we remove them and it then gets burnt away at the other side of the yard. However, I noticed when they were about to cut the fields there was Ragwort in it. It has since been cut but we won't have the hay until November. Can it still be a problem?

If I go elsewhere for hay the livery carge goes up. So I am in a catch 22 situation. But I definitely know the Ragwort is there

 

[Misog2000]

Personally I would avoid hay that may have ragwort in at all cost! It is much more palatable when dried. My whole yard got poisoned by something in our hay last winter, we believe it was ragwort but never proved it....we lost one horse, one is still very sick and several are still not back to normal. Even the least affected ended up with 3 months off and big vets bills - not something I ever want to go through again, we will be being exceptionally fussy with hay now x

 

[Surreydeb]

Ragwort is much more dangerous when dried as it's much more palatable to horses who will eat it when they wouldn't touch it in the field. I would avoid at all costs

 

[Arizahn]

Yes, ragwort in hay remains a problem, as when it dries it no longer tastes as bitter so horses are more inclined to ingest it along with the rest of the hay. Either source your hay elsewhere, move, or check your hay very carefully indeed before feeding it and remove any ragwort you find.

 

[Slightly Foxed]

Yes, ragwort is extremely harmful in hay. Buy your hay elsewhere from a reputable source, it will not cost you more in the long run!

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

Ragwort is much more dangerous when dried as it's much more palatable to horses who will eat it when they wouldn't touch it in the field. I would avoid at all costs

This /\/\ Would not touch it, I would be paying the extra

 

[Muddipaws]

Thanks for that, now the hard bt how to approach the yard owner

 

[Goldenstar]

That's the big issue with Ragwort it stays poisonous when dried when growing it tastes minging dried it does not and they eat it.

 

[hairycob]

TBH I would be looking at moving.

 

[KarynK]

Trouble is the seeds are just as poisonous as the plant and you are not going to see any of them in the hay. I buy from a reputable merchant who I know controls ragwort every year.

 

[Archangel]

I would not touch it and would argue the increased livery price as they have failed to supply safe hay. What is wrong with people, if they are going to make hay they need to control the weeds, especially highly toxic ones. I am seeing more and more ragwort in hay fields now.

 

[LittleBlackMule]

Can't remember exact details, but I have read a DEFRA missive stating it was an offence to sell ragwort contaminated hay as a feed for horses, so you could probably take it further.

 

[Pedantic]

Maybe defra would like to get off their arse and sort out the Ragwort infested areas, we are snided out with it everyfikkinwhere and nothing done year after year, it's just getting worse and worse

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Can't remember exact details, but I have read a DEFRA missive stating it was an offence to sell ragwort contaminated hay as a feed for horses, so you could probably take it further.

DEFRA Code of practice for control of ragwort
http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/files/pb9840-cop-ragwort.pdf
quote
"15 Any feed or forage that contains ragwort is unsafe to feed to horses and other
animals and must be declared ‘unfit’ as animal feed and be disposed of safely.
The Agriculture Act 1970 and the Feeding Stuffs Regulations 2000 govern the
sale of animal feed and forage. Regulation 14 makes it an offence to sell any
material for use as a feeding stuff which is found, or discovered as a result of
analysis, to be unwholesome for or dangerous to any farmed animal, pet animal
or human being. Trading Standards should be notified if feedstuffs are found
to contain ragwort as an offence may have been committed"

Ragwort in grazing is a lot less than ideal. But for a YO to harvest hay they know contains ragwort is unforgiveable. Much more dangerous than it being in the grazing when horses avoid the bitter taste unless there really is nothing else to munch.

I would be leaving that yard.

 

[Avonbrook]

I had to buy in extra hay from a different source in the Spring of 1997. I never found any ragwort in the hay but, when my endurance horse was blood tested after a sudden loss of form, he showed raised levels of the liver enzymes particularly associated with ragwort poisoning. I was lucky that he was competing because we caught it very early. However, because 4 horses were involved the initial vet costs and those of monitoring their recovery and ability to resume work (for those who were in work) exceeded £1000 then. Heaven knows what the cost would be now. Move or failing that pay more for clean hay.

 

[picolenicole]

Our hay still has not been cut, so me and OH walked the fields pulling ragwort the other day. God knows where it's come from as we had none last year, this year we filled a bin full of the stuff.

I would never forgive myself if someones horse got ragwort poisoning from our hay, let alone how I would feel if it was my pony!!

 

[Fransurrey]

I recently saw a yard that seemed ideal except for this problem. I was told that they were very vigilant for ragwort and that this was the reason they insisted on me buying hay from them (a problem, as I'd already bought and stored my hay for probably the next year and a half before my current field's owner died mid-July).

I liked the yard so much I took my OH for a walk that evening through it (on a public footpath). Both their hay field and the paddock I would be assigned contained bright, waving ragwort in full bloom. Bit of a turn off, really.

 

[Dry Rot]

Maybe defra would like to get off their arse and sort out the Ragwort infested areas, we are snided out with it everyfikkinwhere and nothing done year after year, it's just getting worse and worse

Sorry, but I have absolutely no sympathy with posters who are basically saying, "Why doesn't someone DO something!" What have YOU done?

Why don't you write a letter to your local office of DEFRA and lodge a formal complaint? Mark the envelope FORMAL COMPLAINT in large letters, also your letter, say where the ragwort infestation is, preferably with a map reference or sketch map. If you know the owners, tell them that. If you have contact information, tell them that too. Under the Data Protection Act your complaint should be treated anonymously.

If you do a Google, you will find information on how to complain, what DEFRA's duties are, how they should handle a complaint, etc.

There was an infested field near me and I did just that, escalating my complaint to the Central Complaints Team when nothing happened. They didn't like it -- but the ragwort has now gone! It really isn't that expensive for a farmer to get a field sprayed and it is a condition of the Single Farm Payment that they control weeds -- so!

Go get 'em!!!!
The ragwort in this field has now gone!

 

[joeanne]

Sorry, but I have absolutely no sympathy with posters who are basically saying, "Why doesn't someone DO something!" What have YOU done?

When we lived up country we battled for YEARS to get rid of the ragwort. We sprayed, dug, burnt, repeated.....so yes....we DID do something!
The neighbouring fields however did nothing....and come July were 100 odd acres of bright yellow.
When phoning the relevent authorities, we were told they had much more important things to do than chase landowners who don't clear ragwort.
The adjoining fields reinfected our fields year after year.
Highly frustrating!

 

[siennamum]

I have seen acres of ragwort infested hay and haylage cut and baled this year, I really feel sorry for people who have to rely on people being honest about their pasture management. One local livery yard just baled a large field with such large stands of ragwort they created islands in the middle of the cut stuff - as if there was likely to be none in the bales.

 

[OWLIE185]

Ragwort is a cumalative poison so each time your horse eats some ragworts some of the cells of the liver are permanently destroyed. It is equally poisonous when live or dead. However horses will be unable to smell it when it is dead in hay. Once 60% of your horses liver is killed off your horse will start to suffer an agonising death. Ragwort is not to be treated lightly and anyone bailing hay with Ragwrt in it is no friend of horses or horseriders.
Pulling up ragwort leaves filaments of the roots in the soil which regenerate to form new plants.
The only way to kill it is to spray it with a copious quantity of a chemical such as Barrier H and wait for it tyo completely die off. Then remove it and burn it.
If you know of anyone making or selling hay with Ragwort in it then report them to your local Fair Standards Trading Office.

 

[Dry Rot]

When we lived up country we battled for YEARS to get rid of the ragwort. We sprayed, dug, burnt, repeated.....so yes....we DID do something!
The neighbouring fields however did nothing....and come July were 100 odd acres of bright yellow.
When phoning the relevent authorities, we were told they had much more important things to do than chase landowners who don't clear ragwort.
The adjoining fields reinfected our fields year after year.
Highly frustrating!

Well, maybe you did something but it clearly didn't work, did it? If DEFRA told you they have more important things to do, they aren't doing the job they are paid to do and the next step is to make an official complaint to the Central Complaints Team. You can find out how to do that on DEFRA's web page.

If that doesn't work, you complain to your MP. The Single Farm Payment paid to farmers comes out of the 20% Value Added Tax you pay every time you fill your car with petrol, so it's your money. Don't get frustrated and don't get robbed, get it done!

The field in the picture is now ragwort free. Why? Because I chased DEFRA and complained when they did nothing. These people are public servants and we pay them to do a job!