Ragwort

k mac

Sorry i know another ragwort thread. Anyway have a bad infestation think it might be the bad summer last year and the land getting badly poached. Am in the torture process of pulling them but was wondering if i pile them somewhere where obviously cattle can't get at them for 3 or 4 weeks is it then safe to dump them down the bog or in woodland where there is no stock or even after they are dead can the seeds still spread. How does everybody else dispose of them ?

MFdaveIreland

I wud suggest burning the pile to denature the plant enzymes, shudnt spread from the pile if burned

whelan1

i throw them in the skip or i also throw them in a deep ditch, both places where cattle cant get at them. was surprised how quickly they heat when left in a pile. Pulled some on sunday and left them in a few piles in field- no cattle in it- went back on monday to bring them in and they where roasting:o

yellow50HX

whelan1 wrote: »

i throw them in the skip or i also throw them in a deep ditch, both places where cattle cant get at them. was surprised how quickly they heat when left in a pile. Pulled some on sunday and left them in a few piles in field- no cattle in it- went back on monday to bring them in and they where roasting:o

dig a hole for them, burn them and cover the hole, hateful bastarsd of things

porter shark

I lost an 18month heifer today she wasted away in the last couple of months. vet tested blood and dung and can't find a problem. I have another one that will die and about 5 more that are failing lately. the worst two are scoury, the rest have normal dung. they're not sick, the one that died didn't stop eating til 2 days before she died. I sent her to the lab.
any first hand experience of ragwort poisoning? it seems the most likely problem

whelan1

porter shark wrote: »

I lost an 18month heifer today she wasted away in the last couple of months. vet tested blood and dung and can't find a problem. I have another one that will die and about 5 more that are failing lately. the worst two are scoury, the rest have normal dung. they're not sick, the one that died didn't stop eating til 2 days before she died. I sent her to the lab.
any first hand experience of ragwort poisoning? it seems the most likely problem

mine just stopped eating, wasted away, no scour, slow painful death, treated for everything still died.... will be interested in lab results, where they dosed for rumen fluke.. where they all on the same diet, are they your own or bought in???

MFdaveIreland

whelan1 wrote: »

mine just stopped eating, wasted away, no scour, slow painful death, treated for everything still died.... will be interested in lab results, where they dosed for rumen fluke.. where they all on the same diet, are they your own or bought in???

I think its toxic levels of copper if I'm not mistaken?

whelan1

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

I think its toxic levels of copper if I'm not mistaken?

pm confirmed ragworth posioning in my case....

whelan1

porter shark wrote: »

I lost an 18month heifer today she wasted away in the last couple of months. vet tested blood and dung and can't find a problem. I have another one that will die and about 5 more that are failing lately. the worst two are scoury, the rest have normal dung. they're not sick, the one that died didn't stop eating til 2 days before she died. I sent her to the lab.
any first hand experience of ragwort poisoning? it seems the most likely problem

i assume the scoury ones where tested for johnes/bvd?

MFdaveIreland

whelan1 wrote: »

pm confirmed ragworth posioning in my case....

Yes as I mentioned I think its toxic levels of copper in ragwort that causes poisoning, its fine in the field but when its baled and the cattle don't forage through it as much they end up eating it unsuspectingly

whelan1

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

Yes as I mentioned I think its toxic levels of copper in ragwort that causes poisoning, its fine in the field but when its baled and the cattle don't forage through it as much they end up eating it unsuspectingly

have never heard that.... in my case their livers where like rocks ... couldnt even get a knife through them... liver should be spongy

bbam

Necrosis of the liver that's called. That's what happens in acute poisoning cases. So much of the chemical gets to the liver that the cells just die immediately.
Chronic long term poisoning is similar but harder to diagnose.

Jcb1968

I would wait til next April, and spray the field/s, then you just have to pull those growing in the hedges.
I was the same, and was well impressed after spraying last year, total wipe out, just have to pull some along the lane now

k mac

Jcb1968 wrote: »

I would wait til next April, and spray the field/s, then you just have to pull those growing in the hedges.
I was the same, and was well impressed after spraying last year, total wipe out, just have to pull some along the lane now

Is mid september not a good time to spray ?

whelan1

k mac wrote: »

Is mid september not a good time to spray ?

no... either october or best time is in spring when they are at the rosette stage

td5man

I'm thinking of spraying some asap as theres loads of small ones here at the moment.

whelan1

td5man wrote: »

I'm thinking of spraying some asap as theres loads of small ones here at the moment.

cattle have to be off it for the guts of 3 weeks....

td5man

whelan1 wrote: »

cattle have to be off it for the guts of 3 weeks....

I know....... going to spray after grazing will be at least 3 weeks before the paddock is grazed again

whelan1

what spray will you use?

td5man

D-50 label See label Weed stage  Treat ragwort at rosette stage before end of Apri.l If weeds are gone to seed, top and spray the regrowth. Avoid extremes of temperature when spraying. Rushes should always be green when spraying Key target weeds  Ragwort, rushes, dandelion, daisy Registration no.  PCS 04144     Important note  Always keep stock off fields sprayed for ragwort until all decaying ragwort has disappeared.    

whelan1

are they in flower?

Geomy

Don't let them go to seed....
They'll blow all over the place.

I know some farmers who help one another to pull that dreaded weed...

I think burning them to a crisp is the best way, spraying the land is a last resort.

I think there's contractors in some places that remove it from highway s etc

td5man

whelan1 wrote: »

are they in flower?

No mature plants in these fields, dont want to let them get that much out of control

pakalasa

I have the fields cleared of them now from pulling them. Pushed back the briars in one spot last year and I see now the area has a fine patch of ragwort growing there. You'd wonder how many seeds are still lying dormant in the ground.

whelan1

we have a bad field of them on the outfarm... didnt spray in spring as it was too cold and then couldnt afford to not have cattle out grazing on it for the 3 weeks after spraying.... too many to pull, will spray next spring, have most of them gone on my farm

td5man

pakalasa wrote: »

I have the fields cleared of them now from pulling them. Pushed back the briars in one spot last year and I see now the area has a fine patch of ragwort growing there. You'd wonder how many seeds are still lying dormant in the ground.

Think theres something like 20k seeds per plant, whins are the same as soon as you disturb the ground they take off.

valtraman

Council here "east carlow" doing nothing with roadside or their gravel store site just letting them seed everywhere also was on a flyover near Dublin airport and all we could see was yellow below us and it wasn't buttercups .I also lost a bought heifer never stopped eating but pining all the way we need a concerted effort or we wont be able to have silage at all in a few years time

whelan1

porter shark wrote: »

I lost an 18month heifer today she wasted away in the last couple of months. vet tested blood and dung and can't find a problem. I have another one that will die and about 5 more that are failing lately. the worst two are scoury, the rest have normal dung. they're not sick, the one that died didn't stop eating til 2 days before she died. I sent her to the lab.
any first hand experience of ragwort poisoning? it seems the most likely problem

any results yet?

porter shark

still nothing from lab, the first tests showed no problem. the second round take two weeks, two weeks tomorrow since i dropped her up so hopefully soon hear something.
meanwhile i have another heifer skin and bone that runs to the trough and shows no sickness but will die.

whelan1

porter shark wrote: »

still nothing from lab, the first tests showed no problem. the second round take two weeks, two weeks tomorrow since i dropped her up so hopefully soon hear something.
meanwhile i have another heifer skin and bone that runs to the trough and shows no sickness but will die.

are they done for rumen fluke? or bvd tested, what did the liver look like in the pm?

porter shark

tested for bvd salmonella fluke worms, everything fine.
mixture of bought in stock and my own breeding, the one that died was my own and the next bad one is bought in.