Topping ragworth

lanod2407

Looking for some advice on topping a field with ragwort in it. There's a lot of rushes in the field with a bit of ragwort through it.

Would there be a risk to cattle if I topped it with a flail mower after the cattle graze it? My plan would be to rotate the cattle through 3 other fields, so they'd not be back in that field for more than 3 weeks, so should be good fresh grass growth back on the field.

893bet

How much rag? I think 3 weeks is a little short and would preferred 5.

Great weather for pulling. Roots coming out easy. Topping is temp job only. I am over run myself in a few places and going at it pulling hard as I can for the next two weeks. A lot gone to seed already but can still pull last years plant and get rid.

ruwithme

3 weeks should be ok.if you've a good cover of grass then, they'll not be bothering with that.pulling rags is a young man's game & if you can make that time

Pulling is not a guarantee it won't grow back from the remaining roots. Something like a topical hand lick of roundup might be more effective.

memorystick

Graze with lambs in the winter.

Lime Tree Farm

Ragwort time of the year again.

Ragwort warning after Limerick herd suffers multiple losses

https://www.irishexaminer.com/farming/arid-41442862.html

RockOrBog

I spent years pulling out buachaláns here every July, trailer loads, every year there were less, now I'd say an hour or 2 should do it.

Pull them after heavy rain and make sure to bring the root. I've seen neighbours topping and spraying them but it doesn't seem to work.

KingPanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058306789/topping-ragworth

After 3 weeks I would chance it, I cant see the cattle eating it then unless you push them way too hard to graze out.

My understanding is that the ragwort in their second year will not grow back next year, the 2 year old plant will think it is done and wont grow back, the ragwort in its first year of growth will grow next year

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122427089#Comment_122427089

It is a biennial plant so the normal lifespan is 2 years. First year is only stays in the rosette stage close to the ground. The second year it puts up the stems and flowers, goes to seed and dies. But if you top it, you can interrupt that and it can keep coming back for more years. It can basically turn into a perennial if you keep topping it. It would die eventually of course, and you would be stopping it from seeding, but it won't really ever solve the problem

KingPanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122427109#Comment_122427109

I thought if you topped at this time of year, in full flower and just before it goes to seed which is the stage mine are at the moment, it would think that it has reproduced and not come back next year? I could be wrong, what do others think?

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122427144#Comment_122427144

Maybe. I'd say it would be hard to get the timing right so that there was no viable seed there. I think that it would still use up whatever remaining energy trying to make the seed after you cut it.

KingPanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122427147#Comment_122427147

I topped some today so will look carefully in a month to see if they have any regrowth for this summer. Of course they may have some seed that I couldnt see that will come back next year

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122427168#Comment_122427168

You'll also have the stuff in its first year there. That'll be the stuff going to flower next year. You often have to look carefully to see that.

893bet

cutting is a waste of time.

whelan2

THe last 2 springs the weather was crap for spraying. I sprayed some in early june, 2 weeks after I topped it.

minerleague

Was pulling ragworth in a field not normally cut for silage, easy see the larger flowering ones but a good few smaller ones ( no big stem but clump of leaves ) much harder to spot. I presume they are the ones mentioned in article above

Anto_Meath

My understanding of them is that the ones you see flowering now are from seeds off plants from 4 years ago.. thats why it takes years of pulling them to get rid of them fully. I have a neighbour who has a good crop so I do have a few to pull along his ditch every year. I hate the sight of them with a passion.

selectamatic

Has anyone tried licking strong flowering plants or even plants just before they flower with round up after a field has been grazed and then leaving them to die before topping.

Surely a year or two of that would quiten them.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122428890#Comment_122428890

Would be best to kill them before they flower.

Or harvest the seeds and sell them apparently🤣 @ €6 for 50 seeds, we'll all be millionaires.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jacobaea-vulgaris-Seeds-Common-Ragwort/dp/B0CV4BZJJ1/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3UPUVEOKWQC6U&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.estpYb_ZTNPkij7ZE_hw-Su9oY-NxKcUKlGy_0MSjG3D7P9XxVrtG5jqnKIELaAuRdj8n1cOaoCR0mZ5RzXZKtjgy9QysQ5q5V19gMMSb3x_KnovCsvP8Mere3CrGJB3SIfGe7xXDwESFkxUzqaLCVcfky_QpT_XeiChEaH30mcnpjAI_p1g7yiYTwhBsyy0W-DPr50CKTBRkk550ZKI83zTJiVzKN44O8c2aIonjRDlLCXXgnbtjY0l0ZN0yIYtzFh87ywxlaGr1yO3Xd9R3vtd3NFlQv0XCWdYR5Tl-vk.CdACLlXMiGHuWNVFPTFnqSuTLsARAQiae5SAnui5GCE&dib_tag=se&keywords=ragwort&qid=1723107297&sprefix=ragwort%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1

KelGavKerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120906476#Comment_120906476

I can vouch for this if you have the fencing. Had a field covered in them. Like a tulip field in Holland. Got a few sheep in over the years and while its not completely gone its 90% better now.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122504126#Comment_122504126

I think I rather pull ragwort than have sheep 😁

Silverdream

Do not top them, in this wet, damp weather the cuttings will develop roots. Also, the toppings are still leathal to cattle and when topped they will readily eat them when grass supply gets short.

Depending on the acreage, if it's only a few acres you could pull them. I cleared a 30 acre farm that had several fields heavily infested. I pulled them, made small heaps and gathered them after in a transport box. I had to repeat this for 2 years, and after that it was only an ad one you'd have to pull. But it did clean the place and the problem is gone now.

There's another type if ragwort, a thin wire type that grows on very poor land. Spraying that stuff is the only option.

County council have land down the road from me. The Ragwort is 5ft high in places. It's an absolute disgrace.

RockOrBog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122505260#Comment_122505260

This is correct, I also was that soldier. 2 years with a couple of hard days. Now I'll clean them in an hour or 2, usually after heavy rain.

Spraying or topping doesn't seem to work I've seen both tried.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122505370#Comment_122505370

I've tried everything here (there was even sheep around while Dad ran the show). Pulling, spraying, topping, even introducing Cinnabar Moths but there was little improvement until I started managing the grass better, too many over grazed or rooted up patches invites the ragwort to grow as does spreading FYM or slurry too heavily on bare fields late in the year, seeds can remain viable in soil for years. I even found a few fields where I put the least effort into trying to control the ragwort improved just by keeping better covers of grass. I'm not suggesting just good covers eliminate the problem but you really need to attack this weed from every direction and avoid giving it any kind of favourable condition.

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122505524#Comment_122505524

You are right, weed seed germinate overground on bare earth, all agricultural seeds need a cover of earth .