Ragwort control

[alwaysfallingof]

Why is it that I can't find a yard where I can turn my horse out without a serious risk of something fatal happening to him?:mad:

Having moved in a rush to escape the colic and worry of having a lamanitic on grass livery, we find ourselves at a small yard (4 ponies) and a 4 acre field between them. Problem...the plants that I didn't recognise are a strange form of ragwort.

I have spent about 10 hours pulling the stuff this week, and haven't even dented it. The farmer suggested spot spraying, but didn't know that you had to rest the ground afterwards and go round pulling the dead plants. There is also no other field to move them into while we do it.

What I'm thinking of suggesting (very strongly) is that we divide the field in 2, and spot spray one side while we graze the other, and then when it's been rested and cleared switch over.

Is there any reason why this wouldn't work?

Any other ideas?

[becs]

Are you sure it's ragwort? Sounds very early to be apparent, unless they're huge left from last year.

There is a tiny plant called groundsel that looks very similar in miniature.

We've tried everything on our fields - it's a major headache whatever you do. They still recur here & there.

We dug them out daily with rag-forks the first summer - but the slightest hair-sized thread of root left will re-grow. Then we tried spot spraying - and you still miss some that were too small at the time! Grrr...

[Denbenj]

yeah, could you post some photos of this mystery weed!

[alwaysfallingof]

Yep, it is definitely ragwort. Now that I've spent so much time with it you can see the rosettes, and then slightly bigger ones, and some huge ones. Apparently some of it is st john's wort, but a significant amount is ragwort.:mad:

[Alfies-slave]

If the infestation is serious then the best way to get rid of it is to spray the entire field, then pull the dead. This will not solve the problem because the seed can lie dormant in the soil for years, so each year more will pop up and the field will have to be sprayed & pulled again.

I have been ther and done it with the ragwort thing. I bought a field that had a servere infestation. Spent the entire winter pulling the stuff. Then I gave up and sold the field!

If it is only a small field, you could clear it by pulling. Howver, this must be done every year to catch the new plants. Best way to do this is to get 2 ropes and section off strips about 6 foot wide, then go with a barrow and clear each strip. unless you do it in a methodical way you will not get it all.

At the end of the day, your time has a value and horses are meant to be about having fun, riding/driving and looking after the horse... not worrying about it being poisoned. If it is going to be time consuming move to another yard.

You might find this link useful.

http://www.lazydogtoolco.co.uk/

[Alfies-slave]

St Johns wort is also poisonous:eek:

[alwaysfallingof]

Bl***y hell, it is as well.
It *will* be time consuming. But I've just moved here after having to leave my last yard because of serious health risks.
I just didn't recognise it because it's 'Oxford ragwort' rather than the stuff I'm used to in London.

[Denbenj]

blimey what a nightmare. The person who owns the land should of had this sorted anyway.. am I right in saying ragwort should be removed of land if theres an infestation ( or am I on planet mars)!

[alwaysfallingof]

Yes it should be, under Defra's "control of weeds" act.

However...I have been looking at said act, and in typical Defra style, there is very little to enforce it.

If you want to make a complaint, you have to ask them to send you a form, complete it then send it back.
They will then decide whether your complaint is high or low priority.
If it is high priority, then they will *try* to follow it up:mad:
Following it up involves...wait for it...writing a letter to the land owner:rolleyes:

And only if you then report again that nothing has changed will they consider taking any proper action.

[Jessey]

Ragwort and St Johns both need to be sorted asap. Rag is a pain to control but it is possible, if you spray rag you then either have to pull the dead weeds (they are more pallitable when dead and still poisionious) or let the field rest for about 6 months until all the dead weeds have rotted away.
The best way I think it to pull thoroughly and do it through out the year to keep on top of it, you are also best to pull it before it flowers (seeds are getting ripe) to prevent re-infestation as much as possible. On a field we rented it took us about 3 years to get it under control, the first year was terrible, the 2nd much better, the 3rd we hardly had any rag and it was easy just to grab the odd plant as you saw them pop up.

Horses don't tend to eat rag so long as there is enough other forage available, so while you are in the process of pulling it/spraying etc I would definatly put hay out so it is there if the horses want it - this should discourage them from trying the rag.

I would set up a fence to guide you, then clear that first strip and put the horses onto the cleared area, then clear the next strip and move the fence up - that way they should have the least ammount of access to the rag possible.

It is time consuming and hard work, Can you get the other liveries to help? maybe print off the details about both plants and when you ask the others to help (and the YO) give them the information about it - it might help them see where you come from.

Good Luck!

[becs]

On a field we rented it took us about 3 years to get it under control, the first year was terrible, the 2nd much better, the 3rd we hardly had any rag and it was easy just to grab the odd plant as you saw them pop up.
well that's a relief to hear - I was wondering when to give up!

We're coming into our 3rd year after spot-spraying and digging one of our fields. It really gets me down to see them persist. But we do what you suggest; digging most days from April to Sept-ish, catching rosettes as they emerge.

When I see verges overflowing with the yellow flowers, where clearly nothing is being done, it makes me fume. All those seeds to come back to us!!

[alwaysfallingof]

Right, I have made a complete pain in the...erm...neck of myself and the farmer has now agreed...after a lot of persuading.

This afternoon the other conscientious livery and I fenced off about 2/3 of the field where it is worst. I'm going to spot spray that at the weekend using roundup, and then rest it and pull the dead out.

Does anyone know how long you have to leave Roundup after spot spraying before it's safe to pull the dead stuff up?

The bit that we haven't cordoned off doesn't have as much in, so I'm going to hay it every day and spend as much time as possible pulling it.

Hopefully then we should be sorted:)

Thanks for all the help:)

[becs]

I think RoundUp takes a few days to kill the weed. If you do it too early it may not have effect on the roots - I thought the good thing about RoundUp (it is glyphosate, isn't it?) is it works its way through the whole plant, so takes a little while.

But the guy who sprays our manege says it's safe for horses immediately (though obviously the dead ragwort isn't!). Being neurotic, I've kept ours away for a couple of weeks though.

[alwaysfallingof]

That's great becs, thanks

So if I spray it this weekend, start pulling the dead stuff next week, spend another week pulling then they can go back on it?

Perfect:D

[becs]

Found this on BHS' web site, amongst several articles on pasture management;

http://www.bhs.org.uk/DocFrame/DocView.asp?id=1089&sec=-1

if you scroll down, it says about chemical treatment - I forgot there is also a special BarrierH but I think you have to pay others to come & do it. It also reminds us that RoundUp kills anything so try to minimise spraying the grass too! Also wear gloves pulling ragwort. Best to check your spray bottle re timings /precautions etc.

[alwaysfallingof]

I've nearly done it!!:D

I spent 7 hours last saturday spot spraying 50 litres of roundup onto the back 3 acres that are fenced off, so I'm just waiting for that to die.

After obsessively pulling the stuff in the front acre that they're turned out onto, I've got about an hours more to do, and then it's *completely* clear.:D

I will be *so* relieved. Just wish that the farmer had helped, but never mind:rolleyes: One of the other liveries has been fab and helped me.

[Alfies-slave]

:eek: I don't mean to depress you but have a very good look in April when the new seedlings will be visible, ie everything that seeded last year. To give you an idea of how disasterous it may be... an individual plant produces more than 2,000 seeds with an 80% germination sucess rate.:eek: Also, pieces of root that you missed will start to grow and form new plants. The new growth is very dangerous as it is tiny and pieces get broken off by horses feet, wilt and become palitable. At a casual glance all seems well with the field:mad:

[Jessey]

Your right there, this bloody stuff is a nightmare to get rid of BUT once you have got the bulk of it out as you have, walking the field methodically daily through this summer should help you get right on top of the problem. Spending those 15 minutes a day walking the field and pulling rosettes as they appear (easy to do whilst poo picking the fields) is far easier on you than the marathon you have just done :o keeping the field split and doing a 3 weekly rotation (which is great for the grass too :D) and spot spraying and pulling will be another solution perhaps the other liveries wouldn't mind doing a couple of hours occasionally, if there is four of you and its every 3 weeks thats only a couple of hours every 3 months :p
Good luck :p

[becs]

Hmmm.. Jessey's right, but brings back memories of flaking out under the trees in the drought with a ragfork beside me, too hot to keep digging the bu**ers!

My daughter and I both saw images of rosettes as we shut eye to go off to sleep, every night that summer - it becomes imprinted on your brain, aaagh!

[alwaysfallingof]

Yep, I know that it's never going to completely go away, but just having a wander round looking for rosettes every day has got to be better than the hour and a half + I've been spending in the field every day for the past 2 and a bit weeks! Have only been riding my pony once a week:eek:


The next mammoth task will be pulling up all the stuff that I've sprayed - 50 litres of roundup on 3 acres should give you an idea of just how much of the blo*dy stuff there is.:rolleyes:

Just as well I have obsessive-compulsive tendencies, otherwise I'd never have kept at it:o :D

Thanks for your help:)