Ragwort topping - when is it safe

[pennyturner]

I had to make a choice between grazing and spraying this spring. As a result I've now got ragwort coming into flower in my home paddock. Lots of it.

If it had been wet, I would man up and pull it, but the clay ground is hard as rock, it'll be seeding soon, so I have to top it. Obviously I'll then have to keep the horses off it for a while.

How long will the chaff take to rot / dispurse, do you think?

 

[YasandCrystal]

I would say it would take a long time. I would top and collect it up and burn it.

We had paddocks sprayed last year and yes it killed the ragwort, but it wilted and was still standing dead well into autumn/winter. I have kept my horses off it until this summer. Dead ragwort is palatable.

 

[Nicnac]

Never!

I am on clay and spent 4.5 hours in the fields, much of it digging out any ragwort with a rag fork before topping winter paddocks on tractor.

Fresh ragwort is usually ignored by horses if they have something else to eat, but dried ragwort is palatable to them hence why it's so dangerous in hay.

Dig it; collect it and burn it.

 

[pennyturner]

Thanks Y&C. I'm aware of the risk once dried. I've sprayed several times, and I agree, it takes ages to die back completely.

I guess I'm expecting that it will dispurse (blow away) and rot more quickly having been mashed up by a topper, but haven't tried before, so I don't know whether I'm looking at 2 weeks or 3 months.

I'm thinking about our lawn. We don't collect the grass clippings, but it doesn't stay looking like a hay-cut for very long.

 

[YasandCrystal]

A farmer friend swears by hand spraying individual ragwort plants with diesel which kills it and of course makes it totally unpalatable to the horses - a great idea I think!

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

If the only option is topping and not collecting every scrap of the clippings, then you are better off not topping at all.....

It's either spray and collect or pull by ragfork and gloved hands only for ragwort to be safe :-((

Our land was left to ragwort for 30 years so I know how hard it is (and we can't /dont spray it as we are on well water and so are neighbours)

 

[MudMudGloriousMud]

I have been out with a Fiskars thingy today - very hard work, and I looked like I had been in the shower after an hour, but it is amazing how much you can get done!

If you really cant dig the whole plant, then cut the flowers off and bag, then burn....at least then there are no flowers to pollinate and re-seed. I do this along the hedgerows and ditching surrounding my fields (as they catch the drift) and it certainly helps!

Mel