Ragwort

Farmer Pudsey

Now that we have reached the time of year where the ragworth plantations around the country are preparing to send there seeds into everyone land is it time that we should report these farmers who do not attempt to control them to the Guards,Co Councils and department.

I know it is not in our nature to squel or inform however 10 years ago I used to find one or two to pull it was only an hours work in the year. Now however I find that I have to make a special attemp as there is more of them it is taking a good bit of a day.

I know also that the sides of roads are an issue I myself pull any that are on my road frontage, and councils should do more and there is unused land around town and villages that are an issue however should we start to put pressure on fellow farmers and continue on with it to put pressure on other land owners and councils.

whelan1

you can only spray them in the spring or in in november, conditions have to be right... frost will hamper the kill.... we spray a bit of ground every year- one we sprayed last year was a disaster, so how do you know that these farmers are not doing something to prevent them... also this year alot of farmers cant even get out to the fields to top them.... i myself pull ragworth everyday and can see a big difference this year....

AMurph1979

"the time to pull ragworth is when there is one"

reilig

Thankfully we don't have a ragworth epidemic in our area. perhaps the land isn't good enough. A few years ago I had a few ragowrth plants on a field where we had ponies. I licked them with roundup at this time of year and they died and never came back.

Askim

I saw the council/ contractor pulling them in the side of the N7 near Rathcoole the other day.

The main roads are getting worse since they stopped cutting the grass along them.

A

BeeDI

This is the way to go http://www.fwi.co.uk/classified/advert/_alvan_blanch_ragwort_puller_eco_puller_designed_-kent-11292818.htm

bbam

We only have many on one field, they were topped twice last year and I'd say they are down to half this year.
Sadly they haven't been topped yet this year. They're a bitcch to pull, even when ground is soft

whelan1

just in from an hour pulling them- under electric fence wire- alot less than last year...

BeeDI

whelan1 wrote: »

just in from an hour pulling them- under electric fence wire- alot less than last year...

What do you do with the pulled ones?

whelan1

BeeDI wrote: »

What do you do with the pulled ones?[/QUOT
i put them into the bucket of the digger first and then tip them into a skip i have here

Farmer Pudsey

none of you are answering the question i posed orginally

lakill Farm

Report to the co co, gardai and dept?

Well N4 at mullingar is a mess up the edges and central area

- Gardai are always there handing out points
- Westmeath co co probably have 30 works vans that pass it every day
- Dept of agri? well im sure there is a few det of agri people passing

They will blame budgets etc, but its down to not caring

Dont be daft

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

none of you are answering the question i posed orginally

Is it not an obligation to remove ragworth anyway with it being one of the things the Department will look at during an inspection.
Failure to do so resulting in a SFP penalty.

Or is that just people in reps?

The question as to whether we as a collective should start reporting our neighbours if they let it grow in their field, well thats a bit of a touchy subject.
Personally I think it wouldnt help much with the relationship you have with your neighbours if you go off and report them to the dept.
Rightly or wrongly rural Ireland does not like informers and its a nasty reputation to have.
Around here there are people who report everything thing they see. Be it to the Dept, Revenue etc. They're not held in high regard.
You can debate the ethics of it till the cows come home but that wont change how people feel.

whelan1

i know -now- that the guy i bought the animals off that died of ragworth posioning had been visited by the gardai as some one had complained about the ragworth in his fields.. pity i didnt kow about it 3 years ago:mad:

lakill Farm

whelan1 wrote: »

i know -now- that the guy i bought the animals off that died of ragworth posioning had been visited by the gardai as some one had complained about the ragworth in his fields.. pity i didnt kow about it 3 years ago:mad:

Did you get any compensation? or were you out the loss fully?

whelan1

lakill Farm wrote: »

Did you get any compensation? or were you out the loss fully?

still ongoing- court date for september:mad:

Farmer Pudsey

Dont be daft wrote: »

Is it not an obligation to remove ragworth anyway with it being one of the things the Department will look at during an inspection.
Failure to do so resulting in a SFP penalty.

Or is that just people in reps?

The question as to whether we as a collective should start reporting our neighbours if they let it grow in their field, well thats a bit of a touchy subject.
Personally I think it wouldnt help much with the relationship you have with your neighbours if you go off and report them to the dept.
Rightly or wrongly rural Ireland does not like informers and its a nasty reputation to have.
Around here there are people who report everything thing they see. Be it to the Dept, Revenue etc. They're not held in high regard.
You can debate the ethics of it till the cows come home but that wont change how people feel.

You are incorrect it is mentioned under the noxious weeds along with docks and Thistles and there is a forth. Maybe tis act was repealed it is new to me if it was. Ther allowing of these to go to seed is an offence I believe. However the act is about 60 years old the fines at this stage miniscule and has not been enforced since the sixties

Dont be daft

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

You are incorrect it is mentioned under the noxious weeds along with docks and Thistles and there is a forth. Maybe tis act was repealed it is new to me if it was. Ther allowing of these to go to seed is an offence I believe. However the act is about 60 years old the fines at this stage miniscule and has not been enforced since the sixties

I know its covered under that Act but is it not also an obligation under a SFP application also?
We had about 20 plants in a rented farm a few years ago and when it was inspected the Deparment Inspector said to me that there was a SFP penalty if they werent pulled.
But we were in REPS at the time so might have been that scheme which imposed the penalty. I think I remember it being a significant penalty.

lakill Farm

whelan1 wrote: »

still ongoing- court date for september:mad:

Least its going somewhere.

Worse thing is you could win be granted an amount and 3 years time still not have got it.

whelan1

lakill Farm wrote: »

Least its going somewhere.

Worse thing is you could win be granted an amount and 3 years time still not have got it.

thanks for the optimistic reply:rolleyes:

ootbitb

sprayed a ragwort ridden field with Mortox 50 one February with a complete kill.

blue5000

Perhaps instead of reporting ppl, just take a photo, post it up here, with a location. Councils are pretty bad offenders.

Angus4life

ootbitb wrote: »

sprayed a ragwort ridden field with Mortox 50 one February with a complete kill.

did u top the regwort or pick it then, and what about the problem of cattle eating it will they not bother when its sprayed.?

Conflats

We tried many approaches for the ragworth here had a 4 acre field and the neighbours plot was riddled with them in short they spread in and the field is an epidemic of them
We first tried pulling reduced small amount this year sprayed with D50 and it did kill most but stunted a few, will have to spray again next year due to the life cycle of the ragworth
If you've bad ragworth fields only let cattle that are nearing the factory into those fields as the alkaloids wont build up in them as quick to do damage like a cow or personally the favorite one here was sheep (when we had the sheep)

Between the councils, waste ground and some fellas keeping a few ponies(not all now but i've noticed its in fields with them a lot) are the worst offenders

pakalasa

I can say from experience the only practical way to get rid of them is to continuously pull them and take them from the field. We had fields full of them years ago. All we have now are the few that are along the field edge on a boundry with rented land. Over the ditch from us and it is a sea of yellow. Frustrating......

whelan1

going out now to eradicate more ragworth, while kids are at summer camp

ootbitb

Angus4life wrote: »

did u top the regwort or pick it then, and what about the problem of cattle eating it will they not bother when its sprayed.?

In February the plant is at a rosette stage quite hard to see in the field. I did nothing except spray. Since then the field has been cut for silage for years and the only sign of ragwort is next the hedges which I pull.

BeeDI

Of course if you have sheep, you will not have ragwort. Trouble is you won't have grass either:rolleyes:

cj maxx

ootbitb wrote: »

In February the plant is at a rosette stage quite hard to see in the field. I did nothing except spray. Since then the field has been cut for silage for years and the only sign of ragwort is next the hedges which I pull.

what spray do you use , and is feb not early to spray?

Western Pomise

We never had ragworth thankfully,land prob not dry enough:)....however I got a few loads of topsoil last year to level up a low area...and see some Ragworth in it!!!....so how do you pull it?....as in do you have to dig it out with spade or just pull it with your hand?...dont want to let it take hold.

Mac Taylor

Have a few fields with ragworth, have spent the last few years pulling it by hand. Every year, there seems to be less and less. The biggest problem is the verges on the main roads which are in full bloom at the moment.

Bodacious

Ive an area of ragworth inside a gate where horses were overwintered... could pull them or would Mortox 50 be handier as i have it anyway... does it get palatable to cattle while it is dying away though?!

Western Pomise

So how do you pull it guys?

Bizzum

Western Pomise wrote: »

We never had ragworth thankfully,land prob not dry enough:)....however I got a few loads of topsoil last year to level up a low area...and see some Ragworth in it!!!....so how do you pull it?....as in do you have to dig it out with spade or just pull it with your hand?...dont want to let it take hold.

Get on a decent pair of gloves, grap it low down and pull up slowly taking the root with you. Your aim is to take the plant complete, root an all.
If you throw the pulled ones around without proper disposal, they will still shed seed ensuring future work for you!

Mac Taylor

Apologies in advance western promise
"with my teeth":D:D:D

I find current conditions are ideal, pull it as close to the ground as possible so that you bring the root with you. Don't leave it on the ground to wilt, dispose of it where cattle can't get it.

Bizzum

Western Pomise wrote: »

So how do you pull it guys?

Generally behind closed doors:D

Sex and Sexuality forum.................... that way.

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whelan1

cjmc wrote: »

what spray do you use , and is feb not early to spray?

its normally late february early march... but frost will hamper the kill... conditions have to be ideal... yes the plant should be at the rosette stage but if the frost affects it you will have to respray as if the plant is only half dead it is palatable

older by the day

Just wondering I have loads of yellow flowers just like ragworth they have got way out of hand, their leaves are not as scraggly as usual ragwort, they have big roots, now don't say pull them . If I top them now in the dry weather is that too risky that they won't be gone when the cattle are going back in. Or will I let them till they green up again next spring and spray, they are growing in wet places that were poached and are really taking over. If I spray would mpca or grazon or get someone to lick them with round up be best

Base price

older by the day wrote: »

Just wondering I have loads of yellow flowers just like ragworth they have got way out of hand, their leaves are not as scraggly as usual ragwort, they have big roots, now don't say pull them . If I top them now in the dry weather is that too risky that they won't be gone when the cattle are going back in. Or will I let them till they green up again next spring and spray, they are growing in wet places that were poached and are really taking over. If I spray would mpca or grazon or get someone to lick them with round up be best

Apparently there are four types of buachalan that grows in Ireland and the feckers can crossbreed.

Pull them and heap them somewhere were livestock cannot get access to them. https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/farmingsectors/crops/controlofnoxiousweeds/RagwortInformationSheet210317.pdf

satstheway

U need some of these guys.