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IT'S TIME TO WATCH FOR RAGWORT Leading rural campaigners are urging people in the South East to watch out for a killer weed. The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), whose members own and manage more than half the rural land in England and Wales, says that Ragwort, with its bright yellow daisy-like flowers, are beginning to bloom in the South East, showing where control measures may be necessary. Ragwort is poisonous to horses, ponies, donkeys and other livestock, and causes liver damage, which has potentially fatal consequences. The Ragwort Control Act which came into force two years ago.
CLA South East regional director Rupert Ashby said: "The Act and its code of practice make it easier than it used to be to prosecute those who disregard the need to control this killer weed.
"It's particularly relevant for large scale organisations, including local authorities and public bodies. There have been cases where farmers and land managers have gone to the expense and trouble of controlling ragwort only to find it back again from neighbouring roadside verges or railway embankments, or because of unco-operative landowners."
Effective disposal of ragwort is a key factor in control. Cut and pulled flowering ragwort plants may still set seed and ragwort has a highly successful germination rate of 70 per cent. All parts of the plant remain toxic and harmful to animals when treated or wilted.
Carole Hodgson, CLA equine team leader, said: "It's a real menace where animals are about. Total eradication is an unrealistic goal, and it's important to remember that where there's no threat to animal welfare common ragwort contributes to the bio-diversity of the countryside. "But we urge people who are concerned about ragwort spreading to their land to ask the owner or occupier of the land where it's growing to take steps to clear it. In the vast majority of cases we find that land owners or managers react positively. Where it's on motorways or trunk roads, complain to the Highways Agency (08457 50 40 30) and for other roads complain to the local highways authority. For railway land and embankments, call Network Rail on 08457 11 41 41." |
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