Spray ragwort protocol

893bet

Have a field that has gotten over run a little. It’s in reap so couldn’t spray or cut the last few years which hasnt helped. Way to many to go puling. It’s a relatively wet boggy field. Dries fast but gets wet fast also.

1) What spray should I use and at what rate? A bonus if the spray would tackle rushes as the same time.

2) When. From reading a double spray is needed. Was thinking spraying end of September and take the cattle off for the rest of the year. Then spray again in april?

whelan2

D50 is what we use. You spray at the rosette stage in the spring. Frost will hamper the kill and all plants must be fully dead before cattle can graze it again

oldsmokey

We’ve a neighbour who’s rotten with it..useless …does yearly or bi yearly topping and baling kill it…spray no good here what with grazing, and the worry of them eating it..

Cavanjack

Sprayed a good bit of it last few years with forefront and it’s as good as gone now. Let cattle back in after 2 weeks. They won’t eat it unless they are starved and I think they have to eat a fair amount of it for it to do them any harm.

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119300481#Comment_119300481

What time of year did you spray?

whelan2

I sprayed d50 in April.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119300481#Comment_119300481

The problem with it is that it builds up over time. The body can't get rid of the toxins. And if they build up enough of it they will eventually die from it. They will eat it after it has been cut but not while it is growing. If you are pulling it, you should wear gloves as you can absorb those same toxins yourself. Not as much as eating it but I'd say it wouldn't do you any good anyways. Often pulled it here with no gloves of course, but that was before I knew that you should wear gloves!

eastie17

Funny that, just came in from pulling an acre. Wasnt too bad with it, took about an hour. Handy that the weeds dont go too deep

Cavanjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119300491#Comment_119300491

Would have been this time of the year adjust before they flowered. Stronger than recommended I know but doesn’t seem to have affected the kill.

bogman_bass

There is a very tight window for spraying. Because you need to keep cattle off for so long you will end up with a meddle if it’s too late into the spring, during the summer it’s gone Ito stem extension.

september is probably your best bet

893bet

is the below ragwort? My agri advisor says yes (I agree based on the purple stems) father says no.

I decided against spray this year and just topped them below, Spray early spring when they are young and soft. They are like trees now.

ruwithme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119300643#Comment_119300643

A very satisfying job, especially if there's a touch of moisture in the ground.

Some clever engineering man should develop a tractor mounted ragwort lifter. I've a feeling something may already exist, but not the finished article.

Pinsnbushings

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119301785#Comment_119301785

A hateful job but strangely satisfying too as you can see your progress going along.

Gave 4 or 5 evenings over the past week pulling them, just myself and the boss man in the field, not a word spoken between us tipping along..it's probably only in years to come you'd appreciate it!!

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119301925#Comment_119301925

"Never closer the whole rest of our lives" Seamus Heaney

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1HoQSU3riZg

eastie17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119301925#Comment_119301925

True that, when you say that have memories of meself and the owl buck in the bog back in the day.

Daughter ambled past me on her horse while I was at it, she didnt offer to help even though I made the dig "dont worry, i'm just getting this acre ready so it doesnt kill your horse grazing".

Pinsnbushings

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119301978#Comment_119301978

He can say it more eloquently than I ever could!!!

Pinsnbushings

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305285#Comment_119305285

Maybe she will learn in time, just in after another blast of it, had around 5 acres fairly bad with it, nearly there now another hour would do alot on it!!!

Cavanjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119306096#Comment_119306096

Pulled it for years and never saw any improvement year after year. Spraying was all that worked here.

tanko

Had a cow with that feckin Brown snout/photo sensitisation thing here today, she must have eaten some of that St. John’s Wort. Do the sprays that kill Ragworth kill it also?

Pinsnbushings

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119306160#Comment_119306160

I don't own a sprayer and tend to be busy in March when I should be getting it done..they are gone too strong now and starting to go to seed so just said we'd try this..hope to spray anything that reappears in autumn now, and maybe spring again..

I had good success in another field by pulling them, but to be fair they have kept coming back year on year in these 2 particular fields..

Making a big effort to get every last root out withthe garden fork, hope that might make a difference!!

oldsmokey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119301003#Comment_119301003

I can assure you that’s not ragwort..

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119307156#Comment_119307156

any idea what it is? Have field of them.

xhomelezz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119307312#Comment_119307312

Looks like fireweed to me.

emaherx

Looks like ragwort to me, just not common ragwort.

Comes up as marsh ragwort on plant net app, although I thought that would be a bit more stemmy.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119307769#Comment_119307769

Yeah it’s not the one My father would recognise which would be far more green and bushy almost.

These have seriously purple stems though.

emaherx

Purple stems would be a characteristic of ragwort particularly towards the base.

There are 4 common verities here and probably several less common varieties. They all have the yellow flower and purple in the stems in common, some are bushy and some more stemmy.

893bet

These are definitely stemmy variety. I have two fields alive with them. Didn’t too or spray for 2-3 years due to Reap schemes. Gonna get a good spray in spring and the try being it under control manually from there.

Anto_Meath

I ve been pulling ragwort this last few years, I would have almost none now thankfully. You might get the odd 1 near a few neighbours ditches that the seed would have blown over. An old boy told me a few years ago that it takes about 5 -6 years to get them out of land by pulling them, as the seed that falls this year wouldn't grow a plant for 2 -3 years. The roadsides of the country are destroyed with them.