# Ragwort that has been sprayed



## kerilli (29 April 2009)

I'm spraying ragwort in my fields today, and I know to exclude the horses for a week or so, but do I then have to go around and remove all the sprayed leaves by hand before putting the horses back in, or are they not poisonous and palatable after that week? 
i've never sprayed it before, i've always dug it up but it seems to come back if i leave the tiniest bit of root (impossible not to imho) so i'm trying something else.
any advice much appreciated. thanks.


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## Rowreach (29 April 2009)

It's just as deadly, but even more palatable to horses  
	
	
		
		
	


	









Sorry, but a week or two isn't long enough, and you would need to make sure all traces of the plant are removed before putting your horses back on it.

Meant to add, the best way of getting rid of ragwort is to graze sheep on the land.


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## brumbrum (29 April 2009)

There seems to be some articles on the web for this issue - I was investigating this some time ago and found this:

Information on Ragwort in the UK from a scientific perspective


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Professor M.J. Crawley FRS, at Imperial College, has studied the population dynamics of Ragwort, He writes this in his book Flora of Berkshire.

Research has shown that most of the commonly-adopted means of ragwort control 
have exactly the opposite effect to that intended. For example, pulling up 
ragwort by the roots leaves behind a ring of 4 or 5 broken root fragments, 
each of which is capable of producing a new rosette in the following year. 
So, instead of reducing the pest, hand-pulling increases ragwort numbers 
4- or 5-fold. Another method beloved of farmers (I suspect because it has 
such immediate and impressive visual impact) is to mow down the ragwort when 
it is in flower, in order to prevent it from setting seed. A worthy aim, you 
might think. But what actually kills ragwort is setting seed, not mowing. 
If you prevent the plant from filling its seeds, then it retains the 
reserves in its root stock and, instead of dying, the plant survives to 
grow and flower again another year. Herbicides are effective, but they 
kill all the other grassland herbs as well (the herbicides are &amp;#1074;&amp;#1026;&amp;#1114;selective&amp;#1074;&amp;#1026;&amp;#1116; 
only in the sense that they do not kill pasture grasses); legumes, orchids and 
other attractive pasture species are lost under this regime. The Silwood research 
demonstrates that the best way to control ragwort is to fence against rabbits and 
then let the plants go to seed. Going to seed will kill the established ragwort 
plants, and in the absence of soil disturbance and gap-creation by rabbits, the 
seeds will not produce ragwort plants. The strategy works, because in a well-managed 
grassland, recruitment by ragwort is not seed-limited. Recruitment from seed requires 
competition-free microsites of the kind that are produced by cultivation or by 
heavy grazing from rabbits (or by over-grazing with domestic stock like sheep 
or horses)." 


Perhaps this gives some perspective on the problem. 

Good luck


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## kerilli (29 April 2009)

that's what i thought. okay, thanks.


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## Cahill (29 April 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
It's just as deadly, but even more palatable to horses  
	
	
		
		
	


	









Sorry, but a week or two isn't long enough, and you would need to make sure all traces of the plant are removed before putting your horses back on it. 

[/ QUOTE ]

this is why i pull any we have.

it is a two year plant,the 1st year is is a rossette on the ground,the 2nd year is grows into the plant we know.
perhaps you miss the rossette one and that is why it seems to come back.


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## kerilli (29 April 2009)

no, trust me, i don't miss the rosette stage. i pulled literally hundreds of tiny rosette seedlings from my front paddock (barely 1/4 an acre) two years ago, again last year, and there are lots this year too. i have been told that if you leave the slightest bit of root (which i think is unavoidable) it grows back. 
that's why i wanted to spray this year. i don't understand though, if i got the farmer to spray the whole big field, does that mean i can't put a horse in it until the ragwort has literally rotted away?! do i have to exclude horses for months then? is that what other people do?
(btw i don't have lots of big ragwort plants around, i do try to eradicate it as soon as i see it.)


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## martlin (29 April 2009)

Hmmm, we sprayed and kept horses away for 2 weeks - after spraying it really wilts away quickly.


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## kerilli (29 April 2009)

thanks so much brumbrum, only just seen your very very helpful post, i KNEW there were more tiny rosettes every year even though i did the whole area so carefully 2 years running! so...  best way to eradicate might be to let it go to seed and then presumably de-head it just before it seeds everywhere... i've done this on neighbouring fields.


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## kerilli (29 April 2009)

thanks martlin, that's really helpful. will do that on fields with rosette stage then.


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## Cahill (29 April 2009)

i have a rag-fork,its very good.
at home i had no more than dozen last year.
in my big field last year i got myself a builders sock (the ones that sand and gravel come in with a handle at each corner) we spent a weekend dragging it around the field and pulling them up then we burnt it.
i am expecting more this year and will do the same,i will wait till the flowers are appearing so i can spot them,the pons have lots of grass so hopefully they will not get eaten.

i spoke to the farmer who tops and does my hedges and he said spray is very expensive,doesn`t always work and that new rules say that the sprayer has to have a licence to use the chemicals.he does the `grass/top/graze/top` system and his fields look great.he has cows and sheep so perhaps if they eat some it does not notice because they do not live as long as we hope our horses will.


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## Tnavas (29 April 2009)

I've pulled ragwort in the past and it's not grown back - I've also sprayed which is a pain when you need to have they day off work, no wind and lots of sun and no rain forcasted - never happens on a weekend!!

Sheep will eat ragwort and are a great way to keep it under control. They need to be run through the grazing when the plant is in the small rosette stage..


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## brumbrum (29 April 2009)

kerilli

Glad info was useful - good luck!!


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## Donkeymad (29 April 2009)

Whatever anyone says, yes, you must remove all the leaves and any other part prior to returning horse to paddock.
keeping your own field clear every year, as we do, does not stop new plants as the seeds blow in from other places, plus seeds from up to 20 years ago can start to grow


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## Patches (29 April 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
It's just as deadly, but even more palatable to horses  
	
	
		
		
	


	









Sorry, but a week or two isn't long enough, and you would need to make sure all traces of the plant are removed before putting your horses back on it.

Meant to add, the best way of getting rid of ragwort is to graze sheep on the land. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't it cause liver disease in sheep too? Surely if sheep grazed it, once they left the land the ragwort would just grow?

I dig the little rosettes up as soon as they appear. Seems to be the best way of getting rid of it.  I have to do some every year, but not that much.


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## Clodagh (29 April 2009)

We have just sprayed our thistles and the agronomist said if there is any ragwort at all in the field it must be left empty for 2 months after spraying. For thistles its 2 weeks.


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## Steeleydan (29 April 2009)

Just as you do we dig it up, every day when we do the droppings if we see a rosette out it comes, like you do and we burn it. You are possibley battling the same battle as us, it grows on the grass verges and dykes on our road and I reckon the seeds blow into our field. So no matter how meticulous you are the problem is on going. my mum has even phoned the council to complain about it along our road. Not interested.


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## glitterfuzz (29 April 2009)

BHS website advises leave horses off for 2 weeks then remove dead plants or leave them off for 6 weeks if theres too many plants to remove to ensure they have rotted.

We are spraying ours very soon too, we have pulled as many as we can but we are leaving the fields empty for some time after too just to make sure its all gone


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## Donkeymad (30 April 2009)

Yes it can Patches, but generally people will not ackowledge this as sheep are more-often-than-not destroyed before the effects become noticeable.


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## *hic* (30 April 2009)

We know our sheep have eaten ragwort. I can also say that a sheep that has been keen to nibble on ragwort for five years has no sign of liver damage. Our sheep are slaughtered and butchered at home and even the oldest ewes show no sign of liver damage on examination.


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## Tnavas (1 May 2009)

Sheep are supposed to be affected but they seem to love the stuff and yes it will grow back but at least the sheep keep it under control. The main thing is to stop it flowering. 

It's frustrating too when you spend time clearing away ragwort and thistle and your neighbour has a display fit for a flower show. You get all his seeds blown over the fence.

One years seeds = seven years weeds!


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## kerilli (1 May 2009)

I bet i'm not the only one who does all the verges and field margins around my fields, just in case...
thanks for all the info guys, very helpful. i think i need a sheep or two!


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## SirenaXVI (1 May 2009)

Personally would not spray it, it is even more dangerous in it's wilted stage as it is then that it becomes palatable (one of the reasons why it is so deadly in hay).  If you do spray it, you must leave the field until all trace of it has gone, or remove all trace by hand and then BURN it.


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