Rampant ragwort marks a move to urban values
Aug 2008
My carbon footprint has been out of control recently. I have travelled to Blakeney, Newquay, Widdecombe, and then I went to Tenbury Wells to open their 150th Agricultural Show.
My most astonishing journey, however, was to Dovedale in Derbyshire via Grantham and various remote single-track roads. My satnav evidently had a mental breakdown and the route from Cambridgeshire to Derbyshire defied belief.
I eventually arrived at Dovedale to find that the English National Sheepdog Trials were already in full swing. "What time did they start?" I asked. "Seven this morning," came the reply. I couldn't work it out. "Why has it got 11am on the programme?" I inquired grumpily. That did it: howls of laughter: "Look again, it's a village, not the time, Ilam, Dovedale, not 11am."
Oh dear. Never mind, my old Peak District friend "Badger" had a better story: "Do you know, a tourist went up to one of the local coppers and asked 'Can you tell me where 11am is?' 'Just after 10 and before 12,' the policeman replied."
All these journeys, along motorways, A roads, B roads and byways had one thing in common: ragwort. Ragwort, not growing singly, or in small groups, but in hundreds of thousands. This notifiable and noxious weed is out of control and nothing is being done about it.
The main culprits, who are potentially breaking the law, are the Highways Authority and the highway departments of just about every county council in the country. It is an absolute disgrace.
In Scotland it is worse and appears to be the country's main crop (apart from the hot air from the Scottish Parliament). In view of ragwort's toxicity (it attacks the liver) I would never buy Scottish honey in case it is produced from the nectar and pollen of ragwort.
Such "organic" pollution is a distinct possibility and Britain's leading expert on ragwort, Prof Derek Knottenbelt of Liverpool University, believes that honey in ragwort-infested areas should be tested for toxicity. How's that for a new food scare?
A few years ago I wrote in this column about a farmer in Somerset who was selling ragwort to gullible tourists as bunches of "Summer Gold"; I wish he would increase his picking. The fact is that it can be illegal to have ragwort on your land and this applies to local authorities and Government departments.
Ragwort is highly dangerous if eaten by livestock, particularly horses. In days gone by the old-fashioned roadmen would pull an occasional plant from a roadside verge and farmers and smallholders would not tolerate it. As a result ragwort was rare.
The change from rarity to infestation reflects a fundamental change in Britain: from a society with a strong rural culture and understanding to a country dominated by urban values.
The trouble with ragwort is that it is very successful. It flowers between June and September with seedlings growing at the same time that mature plants are in flower. Once the flower-heads form, the seeds will develop even if the plant is pulled up. If tiny chunks of root are left in the ground they will shoot up again.
A flower-head 50 yards from grazing animals represents a high risk of invasion and even flowers more than a 100 yards from grassland can present risk. Each plant can produce up to 150,000 seeds and the seeds can remain dormant in the ground for 20 years.
Yet nothing is done by the authorities. There is an army of organisations like Defra, Trading Standards, the Rural Payments Agency and Natural England, snooping in the name of farming's red-tape, so why aren't these bureaucrats waging war on those allowing ragwort to grow out of control?
They should be reporting them to Natural England, the body responsible for enforcing the Weeds Act 1959 and the Ragwort Control Act 2003.
At the moment the rules mean that reporting ragwort is a slow procedure. By the time the problem has been reported and action taken, the ragwort has flowered, seeded, died and no prosecution takes place.
Incredibly, Natural England prosecuted nobody for breaching the Weeds Act last year and despite another bumper ragwort year this year, to date prosecutions again amount to the amazing figure of nil.
For more information on Ragwort call JKSL on 0161 723 2000.
By Robin Page
The Telegraph
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