Hedgewitch13
Well-Known Member
Well done South Today for highlighting Hampshire's ragwort problem. Shame they had people supporting the wildlife ragwort loving issues too... I do think they needed more emphasis on the poisoning problems though.
'Forget dog poop bins, there should be ragwort bins with disposable gloves and it should be everyones responsibility to pull it and dispose of it!'
What a perfect way to increase the spread of ragwort.
Most of the hysterical reaction to ragwort could, actually, increase its spread.
The way to avoid harm is for pasture to be properly managed so that there is no opportunity for ragwort to colonise.
This website http://www.ragwort.jakobskruiskruid.com is run by a horse owner who took the time to find out exactly how to protect her animals.
She did a great deal of work because she was concerned about the welfare of her animals. Others with similar concerns have only to read what she learned.
Gosh! I wish my MP had known about that before he went to the trouble of voting through legislation requiring landowners/occupiers to control the weed!
Don't you know that parliament consults widely amongst known experts before enacting legislation?
I continue to believe that ragwort should be eradicated from hay fields.
The site linked to isn't in the UK is it? I don't know what ragwort is like in the Netherlands, but preaching about proper pasture control and controlling ragwort in hayfields isn't very helpful to people who are surrounded by uncontrolled fields of the stuff. Getting the legislation enforced is almost impossible sometimes and meanwhile the stuff seeds and spreads. Telling people to control their pasture properly and control ragwort is naive I think.
What feed brands do you consider "cheap" Ragwortsense?
'Forget dog poop bins, there should be ragwort bins with disposable gloves and it should be everyones responsibility to pull it and dispose of it!'
What a perfect way to increase the spread of ragwort.
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Au contraire, 'Ragwortsense', if disposed of into a bagged and lidded bin, then collected and incinerated by councils it could make a substantial contribution. I am not sure what your problem would be with such an approach? The perfect way to spread ragwort is to allow the current totally uncontrolled spread to continue by imagining that if you say it often enough, proper control will magically happen.
Most horse owners only own their own grazing fields and are surrounded by agricultural fields and road verges where there is no attempt to control ragwort, which in many set aside fields takes a second look to confirm that it not actually a sown crop, it is so thickly profuse.
In respect of feed, most horse owners hay comes either via their yard owner or via a merchant, and therefore they do not have the luxury of inspecting the field it came from. They ask questions about the source and examine the hay but have no way of knowing for sure. And given in some parts of the country hay is £7-8 a small bale, price is no determinant of quality any more.
It is true that some animals eg sheep can eat a reasonable amount of ragwort and not fall ill, but the same is not true of cattle and horses, where as little as 5% (cumulative) can be fatal.
Eradicating ragwort from all but the most inaccessible locations would not threaten the plant with exinction or even rarity in this country and I would like to see prisoners with ragforks on every motorway verge in the country
Five percent of what? Total weight of feed? Total body weight? I can't see that figure makes any sense at all.
My 'problem' lachlanandmarcus is that simply pulling ragwort up leaves bare soil behind and ragwort will only germinate if the seed lands on a patch of bare soil.
So, even though you might think that anybody pulling ragwort would bag it and properly dispose of it, (I really don't believe that that will magically happen) just pulling it is not the answer.
Perhaps, if DEFRA didn't have to deal with so many nonsense enquiries about ragwort growing in places where it is not a threat, it might be able to deal with those situations where action is required.
Saying 'I would like to see prisoners with ragforks on every motorway verge in the country' really demonstrates your lack of understanding. Read your copy of the COP and you'll be a bit better informed.
If you understood a bit more you would realise that proper pasture control (management)is the only effective practical way to control ragwort.The reason that paddocks become overrun with ragwort is because they are overgrazed and neglected.As for cheap feed, obviously they are talking about hay so why bring feed brands into this?
Just what is your agenda, Ragwortsense and Estherhegt ? Your attitude seems very odd. I am slightly suspicious of what your motive is.
As far as I have seen, as a horseowner for many years, I have yet to met anyone who is 'hysterical' about ragwort control. More like responsibly resigned to ensuring grazing land is not littered with ragwort. Probably, the level of hysteria matches their hysteria about reducing the likeihood of heavy worm burdens by poo picking.
Its not a fun activity, but someones got to do it.
Question then, how exactly would you manage ragwort in the field in which your horses graze. If you have any. Horses that is.
I can't edit my post anymore, but reading the Defra reports it is ironic to see that grass is a bigger problem, look at grass sickness and atypische myopathy etc.
If the horse dies 5 years later from ragwort induced liver damage then how do they prove which batch of hay from which supplier over 5 years caused that damage. They can't, nor can they prove positively that the horse didnt graze the ragwort somewhere.
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Estherhegt, quite agree that prevention is better than cure, but what would you do if your horses paddock is full of the stuff ? You haven't said.
No-one is saying that you shouldn't deal with ragwort on your own pasture. Of course you should.
But, that is not the same thing as calling for its complete eradication or for encouraging everybody to just pull it up wherever they see it.
You can be certain that, if people were encouraged to pull it up, plenty of them wouldn't bother to bag it and dispose of it in accordance with DEFRA's advice leaflet.
We all know that resources are limited at the moment. That's why it is important to understand the real danger ragwort poses and concentrate efforts there.
Calling for prisoners to pull it up from motorway verges is not the answer.
I just don't see any hysteria about ragwort.
Estherhegt, quite agree that prevention is better than cure, but what would you do if your horses paddock is full of the stuff ? You haven't said.