As the summer arrives, so does ragwort season. This innocuous looking yellow flower is in fact a harmful weed which is one of the most frequent causes of plant poisoning of livestock in Britain.
Ragwort can have potentially fatal consequences to donkeys, horses, sheep and cattle that graze.
Minister for Horses, Barry Gardiner, said:
"Ragwort poses a serious threat to horses and other livestock, but it also makes an important contribution to the countryside, supporting wildlife and providing a particularly important habitat for insects like the Cinnabar moth.
"Controlling ragwort must be about maintaining a sensible balance, and most importantly making sure people are aware of the potential dangers and know how to effectively control and dispose of it."
Defra investigates complaints about the spread of ragwort and other injurious weeds. In all cases, Defra would expect the complainant to have made contact with the owner/occupier of the land on which the weeds are growing to resolve the matter informally, before making a complaint to Defra.
Complaints about injurious weeds are dealt with by the Rural Development Service in Bristol (0117-959-8622).
