Ragwort is very poisonous to horsesand cattle. If you have it on your land, you have a legal duty not to let it spread to grazing areas, so rural gardeners should take care. The seeds are wind-borne, so I wouldn't want it in my garden as we are quite close to farmland.
Having said that, there's a big field nearby that is waste land (disused private allotments); I believe it's now owned by a pension company who are hoping that one day they can sell it for development. It is now full of ragwort (and cinnebar moths) but is just across the road from open farmland. No one attempts to control or manage it.
Horses will not eat live ragwort unless they are starving as it has an extremely bitter taste. There is no general legal duty on anyone to control the growth or spread of ragwort. For more information see http://www.ragwortfacts.com/
Well, the actual legislation states that if there is a medium or high risk to nearby livestock, there is a legal obligation on the landowner to put in place a policy to control ragwort. This is in the Code Of Practice in the 2003 legislation.
Regardless of the law, I would prefer not to risk poisoning my neighbours' livestock, or introduce ragwort to fields that I know are used for hay and silage, which can become contaminated by ragwort.
The "actual legislation", which you have not read, states nothing of the sort. The Ragwort Control Act 2003 merely inserts a clause into the Weeds Acts 1959 that permits the Secretary of State to provide guidance. There is no statutory duty on anybody to have any regard to the guidance.
I beleive animal husbandry legislation requires owners of livestock to ensure that there hazards of which ragwort could be considered one are controlled on their own land, but there is nothing to require neighbouring landowners to control it, although it is generally accepted that it is good practise to.
Having pulled ragwort as part of a summer job (used to use some land adjacent to a stables and it was part of the agreement they hadwith my employer) personally I pull any I see in the garden.
Need to be a bit careful pulling ragwort in the wild as some species are protected.
Looking up Hostafans suggestion - you might not want it as a plant even though it's not ragwort:
"animal husbandry legislation" requires that animals are kept in a 'suitable environment', provided with a 'suitable diet' etc. S9 Animal Welfare Act 2006
If animals are provided with a suitable diet they will not eat ragwort. As I stated above "There is no general legal duty on anyone to control the growth or spread of ragwort."
"Need to be a bit careful pulling ragwort in the wild as some species are protected."
It is a criminal offence to uproot ANY wild plant without the authorisation of the owner or occupier of the land. S13 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
A person guilty of an offence under S13 shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both. S21(1)
However, where an offence was committed in respect of more than one plant, the maximum fine which may be imposed under that subsection shall be determined as if the person convicted had been convicted of a separate offence in respect of each plant. S21(5)
Level 5 on the standard scale is currently £5,000.
What I was trying to say is that ragwort is not named as something that has to be controlled, simply that hazards have to be properly controlled - which as you say does not necessarily mean that ragwort needs to be removed.
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Ragwort is very poisonous to horsesand cattle. If you have it on your land, you have a legal duty not to let it spread to grazing areas, so rural gardeners should take care. The seeds are wind-borne, so I wouldn't want it in my garden as we are quite close to farmland.
Having said that, there's a big field nearby that is waste land (disused private allotments); I believe it's now owned by a pension company who are hoping that one day they can sell it for development. It is now full of ragwort (and cinnebar moths) but is just across the road from open farmland. No one attempts to control or manage it.
@Green Magpie
Horses will not eat live ragwort unless they are starving as it has an extremely bitter taste. There is no general legal duty on anyone to control the growth or spread of ragwort. For more information see http://www.ragwortfacts.com/
Well, the actual legislation states that if there is a medium or high risk to nearby livestock, there is a legal obligation on the landowner to put in place a policy to control ragwort. This is in the Code Of Practice in the 2003 legislation.
Regardless of the law, I would prefer not to risk poisoning my neighbours' livestock, or introduce ragwort to fields that I know are used for hay and silage, which can become contaminated by ragwort.
@Green Magpie
The "actual legislation", which you have not read, states nothing of the sort. The Ragwort Control Act 2003 merely inserts a clause into the Weeds Acts 1959 that permits the Secretary of State to provide guidance. There is no statutory duty on anybody to have any regard to the guidance.
Great I have loads of spaces to fill and I have about 5 of them growing out my pile of top soil I will start digging them up
Probably Euphorbia polychroma (or maybe the slightly bigger palustris), both of which are non-spreading and extremely nice Euphorbias.
I beleive animal husbandry legislation requires owners of livestock to ensure that there hazards of which ragwort could be considered one are controlled on their own land, but there is nothing to require neighbouring landowners to control it, although it is generally accepted that it is good practise to.
Having pulled ragwort as part of a summer job (used to use some land adjacent to a stables and it was part of the agreement they hadwith my employer) personally I pull any I see in the garden.
Need to be a bit careful pulling ragwort in the wild as some species are protected.
Looking up Hostafans suggestion - you might not want it as a plant even though it's not ragwort:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=2923
@Boater
"animal husbandry legislation" requires that animals are kept in a 'suitable environment', provided with a 'suitable diet' etc. S9 Animal Welfare Act 2006
If animals are provided with a suitable diet they will not eat ragwort. As I stated above "There is no general legal duty on anyone to control the growth or spread of ragwort."
"Need to be a bit careful pulling ragwort in the wild as some species are protected."
It is a criminal offence to uproot ANY wild plant without the authorisation of the owner or occupier of the land. S13 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
A person guilty of an offence under S13 shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both. S21(1)
However, where an offence was committed in respect of more than one plant, the maximum fine which may be imposed under that subsection shall be determined as if the person convicted had been convicted of a separate offence in respect of each plant. S21(5)
Level 5 on the standard scale is currently £5,000.
@Bill
What I was trying to say is that ragwort is not named as something that has to be controlled, simply that hazards have to be properly controlled - which as you say does not necessarily mean that ragwort needs to be removed.