I read an article which was recently published in this paper with incredulity. The article was promoting the idea that Common Ragwort should not be kept under control because of the benefits it brings to wildlife.
From memory I think it was an organisation called Buglife that was promoting this quite absurd idea, the premise being that ragwort is not a poisonous as some people think. Well anyone who has fed hay to horses or cattle which is contaminated with ragwort will confirm that ragwort is poisonous and does kill such livestock.
Sheep on the other hand are more resistant and can be used to graze the ragwort in early spring so as to reduce its growth but having acted for a number of conservation organisations, I have never heard of one actually promoting the spread of ragwort.
For the uninitiated, ragwort is a vigorous plant which produces a bright yellow flower that is often seen at this time of year on land which has limited management input such as roadside verges, railway embankments and extensively grazed grassland. One of the problems is that it is a very effective plant; it is estimated each plant can produce between 75,000 and 120,000 seeds.
Thus when one looks at a sea of yellow heads waiving beside a road as one whizzes by, one can see why it is of concern to neighbours who may find their land infested with a very heavy weed burden.
This is why common ragwort is one of the five plants named as an injurious weed under the provisions of the in the Weeds Act 1959. This legislation has been further bolstered by the Ragwort Control Act 2003 which provides a code of practice on how to prevent the spread of ragwort. This does not mean to say it is illegal to have ragwort on your land but the Weeds Act gives the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the power to order a landowner to take action to control the ragwort on their land.
I hope this goes to demonstrate that if governments, of all political persuasions, think the control of ragwort is worth legislating about, then surely there is no reason why anyone should be given air time to promote the spread of ragwort. I do not deny that some insects, including some rare ones may well like ragwort, or perhaps even depend on it, but from an agricultural perspective it is nothing but bad news.
From memory I think it was an organisation called Buglife that was promoting this quite absurd idea, the premise being that ragwort is not a poisonous as some people think. Well anyone who has fed hay to horses or cattle which is contaminated with ragwort will confirm that ragwort is poisonous and does kill such livestock.
Sheep on the other hand are more resistant and can be used to graze the ragwort in early spring so as to reduce its growth but having acted for a number of conservation organisations, I have never heard of one actually promoting the spread of ragwort.
For the uninitiated, ragwort is a vigorous plant which produces a bright yellow flower that is often seen at this time of year on land which has limited management input such as roadside verges, railway embankments and extensively grazed grassland. One of the problems is that it is a very effective plant; it is estimated each plant can produce between 75,000 and 120,000 seeds.
Thus when one looks at a sea of yellow heads waiving beside a road as one whizzes by, one can see why it is of concern to neighbours who may find their land infested with a very heavy weed burden.
This is why common ragwort is one of the five plants named as an injurious weed under the provisions of the in the Weeds Act 1959. This legislation has been further bolstered by the Ragwort Control Act 2003 which provides a code of practice on how to prevent the spread of ragwort. This does not mean to say it is illegal to have ragwort on your land but the Weeds Act gives the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the power to order a landowner to take action to control the ragwort on their land.
I hope this goes to demonstrate that if governments, of all political persuasions, think the control of ragwort is worth legislating about, then surely there is no reason why anyone should be given air time to promote the spread of ragwort. I do not deny that some insects, including some rare ones may well like ragwort, or perhaps even depend on it, but from an agricultural perspective it is nothing but bad news.
James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk
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