Ragwort Is it as bad as we're told it is?

L

lazybee

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 February 2011
Messages
846
Location
ici
Visit site
Since moving to France, I've changed my thoughts on Ragwort. Everyone in the UK seems paranoid about it (as I was). 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 and donkey breeder) 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 and the effects aren't cumulative. Lets not forget there's a whole industry in the UK built up on ragwort destruction, it's in their interest to keep the whole myth going. So if 5 to 25% of body weight have to be consumed that would be about 3 or 4 bales at the very least. I still pull it up when I see it though.
 
I think that Prof Derek Knottenbelt would disagree with you just a tad on that one. It may not be dangerous growing but it is extremely dangerous dried in hay or pickled in haylage and in letting it spread you risk it ending up there!! The whole plant root to seed is all equally as dangerous. Its cousin groundsel is also similar apparently.

Derek did an experiment on himself years ago (don't try this at home) he pulled ragwort bear handed then did a blood test. The toxins were in his bloodstream!! The toxins break down the actual structure of the liver so the damage is permanent and if you have ever seen a horse die from it you would never take the chance as once the damage goes to far there is no cure.

The plant is a real survivor and is Worldwide, each plant can produce up to 120, 000 seeds per year that are light enough to travel the globe in the upper atmosphere, if you leave the tiniest piece of root in the ground it will regenerate, so digging is pointless. The seeds can remain dormant in the soil for up to 20 years!! In India in the 70's there were many deaths as the seeds were caught up in the grain harvest and people eating the grain became very ill and died.

The only way to deal with it is regularly spot spray at the rosette stage, (in spring) and remove any dead leaves before horses graze it. It was commonly thought that sheep were immune, they are not they are just killed for meat before any damage becomes apparent.

A very nasty plant best dealt with, It has taken me two painstaking years of treating it, this spring I have only had to kill a handful of tiny plants, but I remain on guard.
 
I had a pony who ate too much of it and she had what the vet called Mad Staggers and it was so bad she had to PTS. Broke my heart.Now I dig it up instead of pulling it.
It is dangerous to horses and I would dig it out if I was you. I cant spray the field because my two are grazing in it,but the ragwort grows in the same spots every year.Horrible stuff.
 
Last edited:
Hi I find that your vet had to look it up very worrying. Ragwort is not only very bad news for horses, its also very bad for us being a carsogenic (can't spell). We are now adviced to only pull it up while wearing a mask and protective gloves:eek:
 
The latest reports on Ragwort (Professor Knottlebred Liverpool Veterinary College) state that Ragwort is a culanative poison. In other words each time a horse eats ragworts it kills some of it's liver cells. Live or dead ragwort is poisionous.

www.equinescienceupdate.co.uk/ragwort1.htm

I find the best way to permanently get rid of ragwort is by fencing it off and spraying it twice (Barrier H) at one week intervals and waiting for it to die. Then pick it up with gloved hands and burn it.

If one pulls up ragwort it will come back as even the smallest root filaments will re-generate to form a new plant.
 
OWLIE185 said:
The latest reports on Ragwort (Professor Knottlebred Liverpool Veterinary College) state that Ragwort is a culanative poison. In other words each time a horse eats ragworts it kills some of it's liver cells. Live or dead ragwort is poisionous.

www.equinescienceupdate.co.uk/ragwort1.htm

I find the best way to permanently get rid of ragwort is by fencing it off and spraying it twice (Barrier H) at one week intervals and waiting for it to die. Then pick it up with gloved hands and burn it.

If one pulls up ragwort it will come back as even the smallest root filaments will re-generate to form a new plant.
Click to expand...


I agree there it is dangerous.
 
A friend of mine at my old yard, her horse died of ragwort poisoning & I am pretty sure she wouldnt have eaten that much as there wasnt enough of it in the field for her to eat that much.

Having seen a horse die from ragwort poisoning I would never, ever want to witness it again as it was absolutely horrific, I will pull up even the tiniest bit so my horse would never have to suffer like my friends mare did :(
 
when i was at a yard they had a pretty good ragwort managemnt but as ever one pony decided to have a munch on some that we were trying to eradicate. He ended up being poisoned and he now suffers from photosensitivity - light allergy and cant be turned out on sunny days as he just burns!!!

for all the effort of pulling it out the ground I would much rather have sore hands and a sore back than cause any suffering to my or any other horse
 
OMG I have just had a quick google of Ragwort and found this - http://www.ragwortfacts.com/

I had no idea that ragwort had it's fans!

I seriously don't give a jot what OP or this site says - ragwort is very dangerous and should be kept under control at all costs. No, it is not as dangerous as some other plants but you wouldn't let them grow in your fields either!
 
I wouldnt let mine any where near it, to the best of my ability. But some times its easy to miss a little plant thats not flowered and is flat to the ground.Its one of them plants we will never be rid of. like damn stingers. And I admit to pulling it up with out gloves on,not all the time but if im in the field and I see one I missed I just grab it. better than the neddies getting it.
 
To the OP, I wonder if the Ragwort in France might possibly be a variation of what we get here in the UK. A variation, which is possibly not as dangerous? From what I understand, it's not something to mess about with...better safe than sorry, eh?
 
Herbe de St Jacques sounds suspiciously like St John's Wort. Very similar to Ragwort in appearance, but not the same thing ... There are actually many species of Ragwort and some are highly toxic (the more purple the stem, the more toxic, but remember young stems are rarely purple even though they're just as toxic!) and others are mostly harmless (i.e. might be a bit irritant, if that). Not worth the risk, in my opinion!
 
DragonSlayer said:
I knew someone once (horse owner!) who wouldn't pull it up because the butterflies would have nowhere to go....
Click to expand...

Well since now most of the bleedin country turns yellow from it in August I am sure a few fields with horses in empty of it won't harm the pretty butterflies ( I think it's some kind of moth that likes it cus eating it makes the caterpillars poisonous, unfortunately they don't eat enough of it and it still flowers!) .

Yes Natural England, or whatever they are called now tried that one on with me, it's a valuable nectar source said they, well use another plant full of nectar or get reported to DEFRA was my response (keeping my fingers crossed knowing how "Hot" DEFRA are not!!! ) It worked they pulled it up!!
 
As ragwort removal is covered by two acts of parliament: The Weeds Act 1959 and the Ragwort Control Act 2003, it would appear that the subject of ragwort control is taken a little more seriously over here than it is in France.
 
Didn't someone on here had to have her horse PTS because of ragwort damage from previous owners.

Personally this says it all, ragwort is deadly and even if you don't see effects for a little while you don't know what long term damage has been done.
 
mcnaughty said:
OMG I have just had a quick google of Ragwort and found this - http://www.ragwortfacts.com/

I had no idea that ragwort had it's fans!

I seriously don't give a jot what OP or this site says - ragwort is very dangerous and should be kept under control at all costs. No, it is not as dangerous as some other plants but you wouldn't let them grow in your fields either!
Click to expand...

Interesting that the author is not brave enough to add his/er name to this site.

NZ has introduced the Cinnabar Moth to assist in the eradication of the plant.

It's interesting to see that on the sheep stations there is little or no ragwort but on the cattle/Dairy farms and equestrian properties the weed is more prevelant.

No matter how pretty the moth is - Ragwort is removed from my paddocks the moment it's spotted. I remember the effect that some dried in hay had on several horses at the yard I worked on in the UK. Not good.

According to the MAF website - ragwort turns honey to useless because it is so bitter.
 
My friend bought a foal out of a field full of ragwort, he died 6 months later of ragwort poisoning :( He wasnt even a year old bless him.
Personally would never "risk it" As my horses havent been owned by me their whole lives and one bit of ragwort could turn fatal as i dont know how much they have eaten before!
 
For the record though, as someone who has had dealings with ragwort and UK vets, UK councillors, UK councils, UK agriculture, UK horse welfare charities and my own horse becoming seriously ill due to the affects of ragwort poisoning, I'm not going to have some Frog claim it's not as bad as we think.

I'd like to see him explain the three years it took after ingestion for my old mare to suddenly collapse with multiple organ failure. Or why our local councillors put so much effort, with veternary backing, into the most recently legislation against the plant. Or why even UK farmers won't grow the blooming thing.

I'm going to pass on this little gem, I think...
 
Evelyn said:
Interesting that the author is not brave enough to add his/er name to this site.

NZ has introduced the Cinnabar Moth to assist in the eradication of the plant.

It's interesting to see that on the sheep stations there is little or no ragwort but on the cattle/Dairy farms and equestrian properties the weed is more prevelant.

No matter how pretty the moth is - Ragwort is removed from my paddocks the moment it's spotted. I remember the effect that some dried in hay had on several horses at the yard I worked on in the UK. Not good.

According to the MAF website - ragwort turns honey to useless because it is so bitter.
Click to expand...


Ragwort is not native in NZ!
That is the reason they introduced the cinnabar moth.

I see in this discussion a lot of fear based on misinformation about ragwort.
It is true it is poisonous but the topicstarter is right.
I am a dutch horsekeeper and we had also fear too about ragwort, thanks too the English media ( not.)
I did investigated a lot en discovered many myths.
There was named a website here, that is a really good one , the webmaster of that website has a mail adress. http://www.ragwortfacts.com/ it is on that site,
I made also a website about ragwort and we made an English translation http://www.ragwort.jakobskruiskruid.com/

It is true that ragwort is poisonous, but it is not true that there is a BIG problem. The papers and the myths, they are a problem by scaring people, they do not inform peolple right and scare them.

I found another nice website an English one I think
http://ragwort-hysteria.blogspot.com/
 
EstherHegt said:
Ragwort is not native in NZ!
That is the reason they introduced the cinnabar moth.

I see in this discussion a lot of fear based on misinformation about ragwort.
It is true it is poisonous but the topicstarter is right.
I am a dutch horsekeeper and we had also fear too about ragwort, thanks too the English media ( not.)
I did investigated a lot en discovered many myths.
There was named a website here, that is a really good one , the webmaster of that website has a mail adress. http://www.ragwortfacts.com/ it is on that site,
I made also a website about ragwort and we made an English translation http://www.ragwort.jakobskruiskruid.com/

It is true that ragwort is poisonous, but it is not true that there is a BIG problem. The papers and the myths, they are a problem by scaring people, they do not inform peolple right and scare them.

I found another nice website an English one I think
http://ragwort-hysteria.blogspot.com/
Click to expand...

It sounds bad and I don't mean this as a stab at you but any tom, dick or harry can make a website and fill up with false facts etc. I'm not saying these facts are fake but there are enough stories in this thread alone that it kills horses!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top