Re: The dreaded ragwort....

[mrsmojos]

Good evening...hope everyone is staying cool-ish??

I need a little advice please - my husband and I are about to take our first delivery of 6 ewes...it's something we have been working towards for a long time!
However - there was a lot of ragwort the other side of our stock-fencing which we have climbed over and pulled to erradicate, and there was the odd ragwort in our 5 acre field before pulling...
Are the ewes safe to graze or do I need to partition the field to stop them before we get the better of the dreaded weed?? I am being totally paranoid but want to ensure our first little flock is safe!
All advice greatly received!!!

 

[Werzle]

Good evening...hope everyone is staying cool-ish??

I need a little advice please - my husband and I are about to take our first delivery of 6 ewes...it's something we have been working towards for a long time!
However - there was a lot of ragwort the other side of our stock-fencing which we have climbed over and pulled to erradicate, and there was the odd ragwort in our 5 acre field before pulling...
Are the ewes safe to graze or do I need to partition the field to stop them before we get the better of the dreaded weed?? I am being totally paranoid but want to ensure our first little flock is safe!
All advice greatly received!!!

Thinks its only deadly when its dying or after its been pulled and left for stock to eat but if you have pulled it all up by the roots and disposed of it you shouldnt have a problem. Most stock wouldnt eat it while its growing unless they were short of grass or curious like young stock. Weldone for pulling it, seems out of control in most places and councils seem to have given up fighting it.

 

[glasshouse]

Good evening...hope everyone is staying cool-ish??

I need a little advice please - my husband and I are about to take our first delivery of 6 ewes...it's something we have been working towards for a long time!
However - there was a lot of ragwort the other side of our stock-fencing which we have climbed over and pulled to erradicate, and there was the odd ragwort in our 5 acre field before pulling...
Are the ewes safe to graze or do I need to partition the field to stop them before we get the better of the dreaded weed?? I am being totally paranoid but want to ensure our first little flock is safe!
All advice greatly received!!!

They wont touch it usually

 

[egbert]

Sheep will readily and safely eat a certain number of green shoots/leaves and flowers - and indeed are very effective at keeping ragwort at bay.
Cattle seem less inclined to graze it, and equines even less.
It also seems to be toxic to them in that order.....equines most at risk, esp from ragwort that gets into conserved fodder.

I know plenty of cattlemen who tolerate a certain amount in the mowing ground - I cannot myself.

If the number of plants is low, you'll be fine.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Also, you should wear gloves when pulling.

 

[Av Gorritt]

I notice endless stands of ragwort on the motorway verges and embankments . It doesn't appear to bother the authorities at all .

 

[Lakes Nash]

Yrs ago by law the council had to eradicate it, but they had to do alsorts then too, now do f.. all!

 

[Nearly]

It's a biennial so might be a lot to pull again next year but it will get less after that.
Don't despair just carry on.

 

[cowboysupper]

Pull any well established plants with gloves on. Sheep will happily graze it when it's a small plant and before stem extension.

 

[willie waver]

carry on trying to eradicate the little buggers. but don't get too hung up on a few plants here and there, they'd need to eat hay made out of a whole field of it to kill them

 

[Highland Farmer]

I've pulled ragwort for years with bare hands, in fact I pulled a fair few last night round the edge of a field. Sometimes see the odd plant when mowing silage and never seen any side effect in the cattle. Cattle and sheep never go near them when grazing, so it's down to us to remove.

 

[robs1]

I've pulled ragwort for years with bare hands, in fact I pulled a fair few last night round the edge of a field. Sometimes see the odd plant when mowing silage and never seen any side effect in the cattle. Cattle and sheep never go near them when grazing, so it's down to us to remove.

It builds up in your liver once it's in you it stays in you , meant to be worse when your hands are hot and pores open,not worth the risk of not covering your hands

 

[glasshouse]

I've pulled ragwort for years with bare hands, in fact I pulled a fair few last night round the edge of a field. Sometimes see the odd plant when mowing silage and never seen any side effect in the cattle. Cattle and sheep never go near them when grazing, so it's down to us to remove.

I know a man who got very ill picking it bare handed

 

[Limcrazy]

My sheep's main purpose here is to eat ragwort something they excel at.

 

[Tim W]

My sheep's main purpose here is to eat ragwort something they excel at.

Same here.... they love it

 

[Ploughmaster]

It builds up in your liver once it's in you it stays in you , meant to be worse when your hands are hot and pores open,not worth the risk of not covering your hands

This appears to be totally untrue.

The pyrrolizidine alkaloids which are the cause of the poisoning/liver damage are passed in the urine and do not accumulate in the liver, and a human would need to actually eat a considerable quantity of ragwort to suffer any significant liver damage.

There are other toxins in ragwort which can give rise to severe cases of dermatitis in people who have skin allegies.

Whilst I would certainly agree that it is advisable to wear gloves (the ragwort juices will discolour your hands apart from anything else), beyond the dermatitis there doesn't seem to be any evidence of any further health risk to humans from handling it with bare hands.

This web page and those linked from it may be helpful: Ragwort poisoning in humans

 

[Ploughmaster]

It's a biennial so might be a lot to pull again next year but it will get less after that.

Whilst it is a biennial, pulling it up partially can leave damaged root stock, which then regrows and further pulling sets the same process off again - effctively leading it to behaving as a perennial. Needs to be dug up ideally.

 

[Bury the Trash]

This appears to be totally untrue.

The pyrrolizidine alkaloids which are the cause of the poisoning/liver damage are passed in the urine and do not accumulate in the liver, and a human would need to actually eat a considerable quantity of ragwort to suffer any significant liver damage.

There are other toxins in ragwort which can give rise to severe cases of dermatitis in people who have skin allegies.

Whilst I would certainly agree that it is advisable to wear gloves (the ragwort juices will discolour your hands apart from anything else), beyond the dermatitis there doesn't seem to be any evidence of any further health risk to humans from handling it with bare hands.

This web page and those linked from it may be helpful: Ragwort poisoning in humans

Who is behind that web site then?

Sounds a bit like a rewilding organisation or friends of the cinnabar moth or something.

makes you wonder what that cinnabar moth ate before Ragwort came /was introduced here because its (Ragwort) non native but i suppose they would deny that.

Groundsel , well that might be another matter.

 

[egbert]

This appears to be totally untrue.

The pyrrolizidine alkaloids which are the cause of the poisoning/liver damage are passed in the urine and do not accumulate in the liver, and a human would need to actually eat a considerable quantity of ragwort to suffer any significant liver damage.

There are other toxins in ragwort which can give rise to severe cases of dermatitis in people who have skin allegies.

Whilst I would certainly agree that it is advisable to wear gloves (the ragwort juices will discolour your hands apart from anything else), beyond the dermatitis there doesn't seem to be any evidence of any further health risk to humans from handling it with bare hands.

This web page and those linked from it may be helpful: Ragwort poisoning in humans

that site is well dodgy....i wouldn't trust a word of it.

 

[egbert]

Whilst it is a biennial, pulling it up partially can leave damaged root stock, which then regrows and further pulling sets the same process off again - effctively leading it to behaving as a perennial. Needs to be dug up ideally.

Having pulled thousands upon thousands -never with gloves, and still apparently with a functioning liver- I find that leaving a bit of root gives rise to a multitude of shoots the following year.
these in turn get difficult to pull completely, and it's possible to end up with a huge bush of the wretched stuff.
Dry conditions are worse for pulling effectively, although if it's in mowing ground, you've got to do what you've got to do.
Once the number of plants is down to small numbers, I'll get out the pocket knife and grub out any broken bit of root.

Summer grazing sheep are a wonderful help.