Friend or foe? Ragwort revival poses toxic problem for livestock

Ragwort is having a heyday Pembrokeshire this summer after last year’s long heatwave, an uninvited and unwelcome visitor putting down roots in grazing fields and spreading seed far and wide.

Undeniably it puts on a lovely show with its flat-topped, buttercup yellow flowers, a clever disguise for its toxic compounds that can make livestock and horses very sick and potentially kill.

Those who champion this common weed will say it is a native wildflower vital for pollinating insects and that removing it impoverishes our natural world.

Anyone who has seen an animal die of ragwort poisoning will most likely have a counterview.

• Our monthly publication Pembrokeshire Farmer is back, free with your copy of the Western Telegraph this week (August 30)

There are lots of plants that farmers now actively incorporate in their seed mixes, red and white clovers and chicory, that are insect friendly and not poisonous.

Ragwort is covered by both the Weeds Act 1959 and the Ragwort Control Act 2003, the latter of which provides a code of practice for preventing its spread.

It is an Olympian at reproducing and has sharp elbows too, rapidly overpowering a field of grass since a single plant can contain thousands of seeds.

When these disperse into fields and ragwort establishes, it can be extremely difficult to manage.

If it is not pulled, its roots lurk beneath the soil, playing a waiting game until next year’s growing season when it will be back.

Pulling it by hand will do the trick but this is a time-consuming and back-breaking job as I know from personal experience as I earned pocket money by pulling ragwort as a teenager.

But now, with a fondness among some people for extreme exercise, perhaps there lies a farm diversification opportunity that serves two needs - generating extra income by getting paying visitors to pull the ragwort, leaving grass fields less choked with the stuff.