July 27, 2003
Yellow Peril
Not a buachalán in sight
There was an article in last weeks Observer about the number of horses that die from eating ragwort each year (around 6,000, mainly in hay). Anyone with an agricultural background will have no love for the yellow weed - I only ever knew it as buachalán. The story seems incomplete - if horses are dying in increased numbers, cattle should also be affected, particluarly since cattle are often fed silage (and thus the ragwort would be even more potent). An article in the Guardian last year suggests that ragwort may poison the soil over time - I have never heard of that theory.
A sure sign of an unkempt field was multitudes of ragwort (senecio jacobaea) and thistles swaying in the summer breeze, and being sent out to pull them was like a life sentence - it would have been easier to pull the blades of grass between them. While thistles and nettles could be cut with a mower, cattle would eat the ragwort if it was cut (cattle will eat practically anything) but they wouldn't touch it while it was growing. Hence the need for picking it before the meadow is cut or the flowers fade and begins to spread its seeds.
Posted by Monasette at July 27, 2003 05:45 PM | TrackBack