|
Post by mandal on Aug 23, 2008 15:34:41 GMT 1
Yes definitely burn it and pull it before flowers if possible as they can still seed after being pulled if left. I think heavy infestations should be treated with herbicide and pulling as sarahbing describes as it is so easy to miss the florettes in the first year...
Please also everyone it is at it's most dangerous in hay!!! Ask for hay guaranteed to be ragwort free...imo we need to demand that hay makers really clear it!!
|
|
greyhorses
Grand Prix Poster
My two grey boys
Posts: 1,204
|
Post by greyhorses on Aug 25, 2008 11:39:02 GMT 1
I get really worried about ragwort in hay. We can do everything possible to pull it from our fields (I'm lucky that mine sprout one plant a year which I pull the instant I see it) but if the people growing hay don't give two hoots then we stand no chance.
|
|
|
Post by naturalnagz on Aug 25, 2008 11:42:56 GMT 1
There's a field I drive past on my way to work which is filled with Ragwort. It's been like it for years but this year I noticed someone had put their ponies on it and I have now sent DEFFA one of their forms to get them to clear it. You do have to fill in all the sections or else they just ignore you so I just gave the address of the house next to it......not sure if it is them but I wasn't going to get my ears boxed finding out! Hopefully if it isn't them they might know who's it is and point DEFRA in the right direction. I'm keeping an eye on it but now the plants are dying back I wont be sure if they have been sprayed or not.....didn't see the ponies on there so maybe they have moved them off for them to do the necessary. Either that or they are hiding.....Lets hope they take some action......I can't work out if it's owners ignorance or that they just don't care!
|
|
eden
Olympic Poster
Posts: 662
|
Post by eden on Aug 26, 2008 8:47:31 GMT 1
Please can someone tell me if exmoors are ok to eat ragwort??? they have been in one place for 20 years with loads of ragwort! someone said a load of rubbish, saying they are able to eat it? ?? ,
|
|
|
Post by sarahbing on Aug 27, 2008 19:50:29 GMT 1
Definitely not. Ragwort is extremely toxic to all equines. People will come up with these little sayings to save them the work of clearing it. Do not accept it! If they have been on this land for 20 years then I'm concerned that they will have been affected. The effect ( as has been mentioned earlier in this thread) is cumulative. Look for photosensitivity in your horses skin, particularly sunburnt noses. I really hope this will encourage you to demand your fields are cleared or move them. I once visited a livery yard and whilst walking the fields was assured by the owner that the ragwort growing there was fine as 'it was not the poisonous kind' We need to work together to educate everyone out there about these dangers. Ignorance is no defence! Sorry if I sound bossy but this is VERY important for your horses. Good luck x
|
|
eden
Olympic Poster
Posts: 662
|
Post by eden on Aug 29, 2008 9:22:27 GMT 1
Its not my horses,! Its where on the hills where mil & fil live. So I'm going to say to them, 3 are left on the hillx
|
|
|
Post by sarahbing on Aug 29, 2008 18:56:09 GMT 1
Thats a relief! Hope you can get things done. Sorry 4 being bossy!!
|
|
|
Post by Del Boy on Aug 29, 2008 19:14:46 GMT 1
|
|
|
Post by Susan on Aug 29, 2008 23:02:42 GMT 1
One yard near me Trowley Bottom has one field let out to two of their horses and it was full of it.. I tried ringing non stop never an answer thenak god the other day it was all pulled I just hope none of the two in it have eaten it..
I walked my field tonight again only did it a week ago, the section Flynn isnt on as it is for winter grazing and amazing lots of ragwort had sprung up in that time along the fence line next to setaside.. I got loads and tomorrow will get the rest pulled and I intend to spray all along as well after as Flynn wont be on that for a few months.. It was sprayed last summer.
I hate the stuff but setaside I am told cant be sprayed..is that true?
|
|
|
Post by Susan on Aug 29, 2008 23:11:06 GMT 1
Please can someone tell me if exmoors are ok to eat ragwort??? they have been in one place for 20 years with loads of ragwort! someone said a load of rubbish, saying they are able to eat it? ?? , NO equine or bovine is safe to eat it.. or related.. I fought Whipsnade Zoo on my doorstep many years back on this issue.. I was threatened with court order and I got locval press to sneak in and take pictures of them standing in the Bison Pen with Ragwort well above their waists.. ..I had evidence of a Bison that had died at another zoo from Ragwort poisoning and Whipsnade still refused to do anything saying they did what DEFRA recommended.. I got volunteers to go and pull it and they refused us entry.. The Downs which is National Trust Land stated they had a real problem with it being blown across their land when in flower I tried my best, but Director of Whipsnade really made life hard for me.. one yard refused to take me as they saw me as trouble maker.. MY GOD this is Ragwort it kills horses.. I had one lady say it was ok for sheep to graze it. It isnt they are affected as well. sorry folks another soap box of Susans
|
|
|
Post by Furiey on Aug 29, 2008 23:11:51 GMT 1
I dig it out as I go round poo picking. I regularly take the ragfork with me and collect it up as I go round. It's amazing how it hides though, I didn't have the ragfork with me tonight and spotted loads of rosettes that I hadn't seen the day before, some so large I just can't see how I messed them. Tomorrow I'll take the ragfork with me and probably won't be able to see one! I'm sure it knows and puts the camoflage on...
|
|
|
Post by Susan on Aug 29, 2008 23:39:42 GMT 1
They are amazing how they suddenly appear.. devils..
|
|
|
Post by Lulu on Aug 30, 2008 12:47:23 GMT 1
Please can someone tell me if exmoors are ok to eat ragwort??? they have been in one place for 20 years with loads of ragwort! someone said a load of rubbish, saying they are able to eat it? ?? , NO equine or bovine is safe to eat it.. or related.. I fought Whipsnade Zoo on my doorstep many years back on this issue.. I was threatened with court order and I got locval press to sneak in and take pictures of them standing in the Bison Pen with Ragwort well above their waists.. ..I had evidence of a Bison that had died at another zoo from Ragwort poisoning and Whipsnade still refused to do anything saying they did what DEFRA recommended.. I got volunteers to go and pull it and they refused us entry.. The Downs which is National Trust Land stated they had a real problem with it being blown across their land when in flower I tried my best, but Director of Whipsnade really made life hard for me.. one yard refused to take me as they saw me as trouble maker.. MY GOD this is Ragwort it kills horses.. I had one lady say it was ok for sheep to graze it. It isnt they are affected as well. sorry folks another soap box of Susans Yes the bovines near us live on ragwort infested fields which get topped with the cows IN it !! Oh the landowners were boasting they'd make a lovely crop of hay. We told them it would have ragwort in it, but he said it was sprayed !! How come then after cutting, they have thousands of ragwort plants growing, doubt the spray got to them ?? I've heard someone with horses down the road has bought all this hay
|
|
|
Post by Susan on Aug 31, 2008 20:13:13 GMT 1
Yes the bovines near us live on ragwort infested fields which get topped with the cows IN it !! Oh the landowners were boasting they'd make a lovely crop of hay. We told them it would have ragwort in it, but he said it was sprayed !! How come then after cutting, they have thousands of ragwort plants growing, doubt the spray got to them ?? I've heard someone with horses down the road has bought all this hay [/quote] Oh MY God, that is terrible. I have had horse owners say and beleive because they heard it was unpalitable when plant alive horses wont eat it! and have their horses in pasture infested with it. I have had a lady even use her lambs to graze it down.. and they will die from it.. It is unreal..
|
|
|
Post by lolamae on Aug 31, 2008 21:31:23 GMT 1
It does affect sheep I am told, but because they don't live that long the effects generally are not seen.
Before anyone comments, or even thinks it, it is the normal European reaction, that is NOT ragwort in the background in my signature, we don't have it.
That yellow weed (and I have acres of it) is something I used to actually BUY for my garden in the UK, Golden Rod, the bane of my life!
|
|