Ragwort spraying

[ItsMischerWavy]

Just wondered if anyone had ever had a field sprayed for ragwort (quite a lot of ragwort!)

What are your experiences? How long did it take to go away? Was it successful?

Thanks for your input!

The problem is that it is more poisonous when it is dead, and if you spray then you will be left with a lot of dead plants.

How big is the field?

Digging up, removing and burning is the safest option really.

Hi,

Yeah that's not an issue as horses aren't out there and won't be until its all degraded as I'm v aware of the dangers surrounding dead ragwort 😊

Query is - after spraying how long did people find it took for the ragwort to die/disappear? Was this affected by the weather

In my experience the problem with ragwort is that there is no one total solution. Whatever you do it always returns the next year. The best you can do is keep pulling it and burning it (wear gloves) all the time but how successful you are will depend on what your neighbors are doing. If they are allowing it to get out of control, it will be even harder for you.

Check the weed killer box, does it not say how long before the weed dies? I would imagine something like two weeks?

Hi,

Yeah I will continue to pull etc. I had it sprayed as it was out of control (many reasons it got that way) so I wanted a fresh slate to begin from for the future.

I've contacted the sprayer and apparently the time taken is longer for it to die due to the weather we've been having. I posted to try and get some info as to whether this is right in people's experience or whether I've been done over by this apparently reputable company. Unfortunately I can't check the box as ragwort killing weed killers are licensed so the the likes of you and I can't get hold of it..... Well enough to do 4 acres anyway.

Just to explain a little, I've had horses for 25 years but have always pulled then disposed of.... Due to having a baby and my horses (they're rescues and 2 of them are young) I wasn't able to take daughter in field to pull hence it being out of control lol.

Horses are off the field for the foreseeable and I'm removing the dead ragwort obviously but main reason for the post is to find out if I've thrown £250 in the wind as I was expecting it to have died off more than it has in the past 3.5 weeks. :)

Oh, I see. Then sorry I have no idea how long it takes but this site suggests 5-6 weeks with no grazing as ragwort becomes more palatable after spraying. It also suggests that this may not have been the optimal time to spray.

www.agriland.ie/farming-news/upgrade-to-departments-computer-system-likely-to-delay-tillage-scheme-applications/

Sheep can eat it when its young in the rosette form. I cured my ragwort problem by also keeping sheep or borrowing some. It won't help for this year but might be worth it in the spring next year.

I'd heard this too... Was mulling it over for next year but unsure what one of them would think of sheep, or if the sheep would survive as he's a murderous little shit 😂

It depends where in the country you are, but if you sprayed 3.5 weeks ago then it maybe hasn't worked very well due to the weather. This hot dry spell means that your spray may have evapourated and so may be less effective. As said above, the best way to keep ragwort from growing is to graze sheep alongside horses.

Ask for the spray record from your contractor. They have to have one. It will give details of chemical used, application rate, water volume, time and date applied, wind speed and direction. Depending on what chemical was used, the weeds may have needed to be actively growing which the hot weather has halted, so could be a genuine reason. Post back on here when you have the record. They should've sent it to you with their invoice.

I have mine sprayed yearly. First year we had it sprayed then topped as it was really really bad ( neighbour on one side does fuck all with his and then we get the seeds ) and since then , we have it done once yearly even if the pasture looks ok , and touch wood , we’ve been virtually free of it ever since . Our contractor advises at least 3 weeks off the grass , but prefers to do it earlier in the year if weather permits so the bloody stuff doesn’t get a chance to grow .

I have done a mix of spraying and pulling in the past. I can't remember exactly how long it took to die after spraying but it was a few months I think. Spraying is definitely the way to go when you have lots.