Ragwort Control Options

my Shetland Sheep and Cinnaber moths are hammering mine atm🙂

There is a man in Tullow who makes specialised ragworth sprangs for getting up the roots I can pm you his number if you like

They grow over two years so as people have said already it takes a few years to get rid of them

I’ve been doing an hour a day and you’d be surprised how much you get done

Mulch it now, give it plenty of time to rot before letting livestock back.
From my experience, I didn't have a ragwort problem, ragwort was only the symptom not the cause, using nothing but implementing rotational grazing, grass measuring and regular topping the ragwort disappeared once the grass could out compete it.

This is from 2017 - just before I took over the farm and the last time I tried to clear a field by pulling.

The same field this morning, will be cut and wrapped shortly and not a yellow flower in sight.

Poor grass management or a nutrient issues will lead to bad ragwort infestations, soil samples came back good for this field, but I blame overgrazing in the fringes of the year allowed the seed the conditions to to germinate, I now close up the worst effected areas first in the autumn to leave them with some cover over the winter and into spring. (Even just the worst strip of a field).

I still have some fields to deal with but every year I'm seeing an improvement, embarrassingly the home farm is still the worst as it is only a 10 acre block, that has been an easy target for abusing with late/early grazing and/or blacking with FYM but I'm targeting that for improvements now.

Wore that t-shirt long enough, it won't work unless the underlying issues are resolved also.
But far less pulling required if any once they are.

Having said that I wouldn't walk past a ragwort without pulling it in a field that is more or less under control.

I just thought the same thing when writing the post, both pictures are from the same time of year.
Not many healthy looking ash trees left around here.

I read somewhere that ash trees are showing signs of recovery of a sorts. I certainly hope it’s possible. The one in the corner of my garden “seems” to have more cover this year but that may just be wishful thinking.

True,

I guess the short version is,
Don't bother spraying now the plants will wilt, die very slowly and go to seed early and you'll achieve nothing.
I wouldn't bother pulling either it will be a lot of work and fruitless, if you can't fix the underlying issues now.

Mulching, them would be an option this time of year, but only if you can afford to keep cattle away for a month, would need up to 6 weeks after a normal topper. Alternatively an old double chop harvester to cut and collect them, then compost them away from livestock.

Well the flattened soil or any bare clay is ideal for their establishment. The seeds spread in the wind and can remain viable for years. Any soil disturbance from machinery/drought/poaching/over-grazing etc will also help them establish.