Bridgette Baker: Rewilding could spread ragwort
© Kathy Horniblow Ragwort can be the bane of every farmer’s or horse owner’s life during the summer.
My mum and I have a lovely annual bonding session driving round the farm in the sit-in ATV, battling against this pernicious enemy.
Mum digs out the entire plant, including the roots, while I pass the tools and put the upended flowers in the trailer, making sure all the electric fences are off.
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Although it is essential to get every single plant as it will go to seed and spread ready for more the following year, I often have to hold the back of Mum’s trousers when she is teetering on the edge of a lake or deep ditch, trying to reach a plant, and we have had to give up a few times to avoid toppling into a splash.
Ragwort around watercourses and damp ditches seems to be an oft-encountered problem not so easy to eradicate, so we see a few clusters behind electric fences where we have wet ditches between fields.
The job has slowly got easier over the years. When we first started doing the rounds, we gathered four ATV trailer-loads – now it is only one. Seeing results like that makes this tedious task worthwhile.
And it has to be done, as it spreads so rapidly and is poisonous to ruminants, particularly cattle and horses.
The poison, which affects the liver, can seemingly take anything from a few weeks to 18 months before killing an animal – and there is no cure once an animal has been poisoned.
If you’re not practised in identifying it, the telltale signs are the jagged leaves and little yellow flowers with spaced-out petals.
I always feel conflicted when I see the public posting pretty pictures of ragwort online.
Yes, there are conservation benefits in terms of pollinating insects, but it’s dangerous (it’s one of five weeds classed as “injurious” under the Weeds Act 1959) and I fear the spread of rewilding could lead to a spread of ragwort.
I suppose at least it grows from June to November, so I’m able to enjoy some sunshine and summer heat while I’m out digging at hard soil for hours on end!