How to Remove Ragwort from Your Horse’s Paddock Safely

If ragwort has appeared in your paddock, you need to act, and you need to act in the right order. Every part of the plant is poisonous to horses, and the liver damage it causes builds up quietly over time. This guide explains how to get rid of ragwort properly: how to recognise it at each stage, when to pull it, how to use a ragwort fork, when a weedkiller makes sense, how to dispose of it without spreading seed or poisoning anything, and what the law in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland actually requires of you.

Why Ragwort Has to Go From Horse Grazing

Ragwort contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, compounds that the liver turns into substances that damage its own cells. World Horse Welfare puts the practical consequence plainly: the toxic effect builds up over time, so a horse can become as ill from eating small amounts over a long period as from eating a large quantity in one go. There is no amount you can safely leave in a field. The signs, diagnosis and outlook for a horse that has eaten it are covered in our guide to ragwort poisoning in horses; this page is about keeping it out of the field in the first place.

Do not rely on your horse to leave it alone. Growing ragwort tastes bitter and most horses avoid it while there is decent grass, but the British Horse Society notes that horses may eat it when no other food is available, and that wilted ragwort loses its bitterness while staying toxic. The Defra code of practice makes the same point about forage: ragwort is less likely to be rejected once dried, which is why contaminated hay, haylage and silage are a particular problem.

How good are horses at sorting it out of hay? A controlled trial at Leipzig University (Sroka et al., BMC Veterinary Research, 2022, PMID 34996467) fed six warmblood geldings hay deliberately contaminated with 5% or 10% ragwort, with clean hay available the rest of the day. Only two of the six managed to sort the ragwort out for the whole experiment; two were withdrawn after three of the twelve observation periods for repeatedly eating it, and two more after nine and eleven. The authors concluded that intake cannot be avoided even when hay is fed ad lib, and that fields carrying ragwort are unsuitable for making feed.

How to Identify Ragwort at Every Stage

Common ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris, still often listed under its older name Senecio jacobaea) is normally a biennial. It spends its first year as a low rosette of leaves and flowers in its second, then dies. Knowing the early stages matters, because that is when removal is easiest.

Seedlings

The BHS says seedlings can appear from autumn to late spring and are often first noticed when their leaves are about 10 to 15 mm long. The RHS describes the first leaves as spade-shaped, wavy-edged and hairless. They are easy to miss in a thick sward, but they also struggle to establish in one: the Welsh Government's 2026 code of practice notes that young seedlings are unlikely to establish in a closed sward and need bare patches.

The Ragwort Rosette

In its first year the plant forms a flat, ground-hugging ragwort rosette of deeply lobed, ragged, dark green leaves, sometimes tinged purple (BHS). Even at this stage the RHS describes a taproot that branches into a network of thick, tough, pale roots, which is why a rosette tugged out of dry ground so often snaps and leaves root behind. Rosettes are the stage to target: no flowers, no seed, and a plant small enough to lift whole.

Flowering Plants

In the second year the rosette sends up one or more tough, leafy stems topped with flat clusters of bright yellow, daisy-like flowers. Sources give slightly different windows and heights, so here they are side by side: the Defra code says flowering usually runs from June until late October on stems up to one metre; the RHS says July to October on stems up to 1.5 m, though often much shorter; the BHS gives June to late October and 30 to 100 cm. Stems are often reddish near the base (BHS).

Seed is the reason ragwort control never ends after one season. The Welsh code puts seed numbers anywhere from under 5,000 to 150,000 and occasionally more per plant, with damaged plants, for example after cutting or grazing, likely to produce the most. Seed ripens from July or August until December and dispersal usually peaks in August and September. Most of it travels only a short distance on the wind, but some is carried by water, animals and contaminated hay or soil. Buried seed can lie dormant, and the same code says "a small and declining percentage" may remain viable for 10 to 16 years, possibly longer.

Plants Mistaken for Ragwort

Plenty of tall yellow wildflowers get pulled by mistake. The RHS lists tansy, common fleabane, smooth hawk's-beard and goldilocks aster as common look-alikes, and the Defra code adds St John's worts, yellow loosestrife, goldenrod, agrimonies, mulleins, hawkweeds, hawkbits, cat's-ears and sow-thistles. Check the leaves as well as the flowers: ragwort's are deeply divided and ragged all the way up the stem.

Some look-alikes matter in their own right. Other ragworts, including marsh, hoary and Oxford ragwort, are also toxic to horses even though only common ragwort is named in the Weeds Act (RHS). Buttercups are often growing in the same tired paddocks; they cause buttercup poisoning if eaten in quantity and blistering buttercup burn around the muzzle, so a field full of them is telling you the same thing about the grass. Fen ragwort is the exception to pulling anything that looks like ragwort: the Defra code describes it as protected and says it should not be controlled.

When to Remove Ragwort

The best time to pull or dig ragwort is before it flowers, at the seedling or rosette stage, and ideally when the ground is damp. The BHS, World Horse Welfare, the RHS and the Defra code all say the same thing about soil: roots come out whole from wet ground and snap in dry ground. The Defra code adds a warning worth taking seriously: incomplete hand pulling in dry weather can damage the crown and turn a biennial plant into one that flowers year after year.

If you only find it once it is in flower, the priority changes. The job is now to stop seed being set, so pull or lever it out before the seed heads mature, bag it immediately and deal with the rest of the field afterwards. Herbicides have a different timing again, covered below.

There is no official schedule for walking a field, and we will not invent one. The Defra code asks livestock owners to inspect grazing land regularly for ragwort while animals are on it. In practice that means looking properly every time you are out there during the growing season, and paying most attention to gateways, fence lines, troughs, rabbit scrapes and any poached or bare ground, because that is where seedlings get a foothold.

How to Get Rid of Ragwort: Every Method Compared

No single method solves a ragwort problem, and the codes of practice expect you to combine them and repeat them over several seasons. This table summarises what each one is for, drawing on the Defra code, the 2026 Welsh code, the BHS and the RHS.

Pulling Ragwort by Hand

For a handful of plants, pulling is the most effective method. Grip the plant at the base, pull steadily and try to bring out the whole root, because ragwort regenerates from root fragments left in the soil (RHS). Bag each plant as you go rather than piling them up or carrying loose plants across the field, since flowering plants can still shed seed after they have been pulled.

Is Ragwort Poisonous to Touch?

Wear gloves, but know why. The Defra code says humans may be at risk through direct contact, and asks for sturdy waterproof gloves, covered arms and legs, and a face mask around flowering plants to avoid inhaling pollen. When Defra was asked in 2014 for the evidence behind that sentence, its published response quoted the Health and Safety Executive: there is no experimental data for skin absorption of any ragwort alkaloid, only a small percentage would be expected to penetrate intact skin, and HSE was unaware of any reports of ill-health from skin contact among workers. The Welsh code adds a separate, better-documented risk: contact can cause an allergic skin reaction, Compositae dermatitis, from compounds that are not the alkaloids at all. So gloves are sensible and cheap, and if you do get sap on your skin, wash it off with warm soapy water, as the Defra code advises.

How to Use a Ragwort Fork

A ragwort fork (sometimes sold as a ragwort puller or lever) has two long, narrow tines and a long handle, and works as a lever rather than a spade. The Defra code lists levering out as a recognised control method, with best results when the soil is wet. Used well, it lifts the whole taproot and its side roots with far less soil disturbance than digging:

1. Push the tines in close to the crown, on either side of the main root, as deep as they will go.
2. Lean the handle back to lever the plant up, then ease it out by the base of the stems rather than yanking it.
3. Check the root. If it has snapped, go back in for the rest, because a fragment can regrow.
4. Bag the plant at once, and firm the soil back into the hole with your boot so you are not leaving bare ground for the next seedling.

Any strong, narrow garden fork will do the same job on small plants, and the RHS suggests a hand fork or trowel for small plants and a border fork for larger ones.

Ragwort Weedkillers and Herbicides

For larger areas, spraying is often the realistic option. The BHS advises applying herbicide in spring while the plants are rosettes, moving animals off first, and warns that herbicide is unlikely to be effective on mature plants. Most selective products will also kill the other broad-leaved plants they touch (Defra code), so spot treatment or a weed wiper is kinder to the rest of the sward than blanket spraying.

Check whether you are allowed to apply the product yourself. The Welsh code sets out that anyone using professional herbicides is bound by the Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012, including training, equipment testing and record keeping, and that application should be done by a trained, competent person or under their direct personal supervision. The BHS points owners to the National Association of Agricultural Contractors for qualified spray contractors. Always read and follow the label.

Forum favourites such as salt, vinegar and washing-up liquid mixtures are not authorised weedkillers, and salt in particular damages the soil you are trying to grow grass on. We would not use them in a horse field.

When Horses Can Go Back On After Spraying

This is the point most owners get wrong. Every product has a grazing interval on its label, but the Defra code is explicit that the grazing interval gives the herbicide time to work "and does not indicate that it is safe to graze". Sprayed ragwort stays toxic and becomes more palatable as it wilts, so the code says it is only safe to graze once the plants have disintegrated and animals cannot get at them. The Welsh code goes a step further and suggests land managers may want to consider an additional two weeks of exclusion after all the treated ragwort has disappeared.

The reason for that extra caution is research on alkaloids leaching out of dead ragwort. In a pot study, Nowak et al. (Food Chemistry, 2016, PMID 27451168) mulched herbs with dried ragwort and found pyrrolizidine alkaloids in all of the plants that grew through it, taken up through their roots. A later field trial with a different alkaloid-producing plant (Chmit et al., Foods, 2021, PMID 34441604) found transfer only at low rates, and none in the harvested grain. The size of the risk in a grazed paddock is not known, which is one more reason to take dead ragwort out of the field rather than leave it to rot where it fell.

Cutting and Mowing: Emergency Use Only

Cutting does not kill ragwort. The Defra code calls it a control method of last resort, to be used only to reduce seeding where nothing better is possible, because cutting stimulates growth and the plants re-flower later in the season. Cutting at early flowering can turn a biennial into a perennial. The RHS adds that mowing chops the plant up and spreads it, making it harder for grazing animals to recognise and avoid. If you have to cut to stop seed, follow up with pulling or spraying, clear every cut stem off the field before horses go back on, and never let cut ragwort end up in hay.

Spot Burners

Hand-held flame guns can be used on rosettes, but the Welsh code says they are unlikely to be suitable in most circumstances except on hard surfaces and paved areas, because of fire risk and damage to surrounding vegetation, and it requires a risk assessment before use.

The Cinnabar Moth and Biological Control

The black-and-yellow striped caterpillars of the cinnabar moth are the best-known ragwort feeders; the RHS calls ragwort their primary food plant, and more than 200 species of invertebrates have been recorded on it. Heavy caterpillar years can strip plants bare, but the Defra code is clear that none of the natural enemies it lists, including the cinnabar moth, the ragwort flea beetle and the ragwort seedfly, significantly reduces ragwort populations. Enjoy them, but do not rely on them to clear a horse field.

Never Graze Ragwort Out

Using sheep, goats or horses to eat ragwort down is sometimes suggested as a cheap fix. The Defra code rules it out: all grazing animals are susceptible to the toxic effects, and deliberate control by grazing should not be undertaken on animal welfare grounds.

How to Dispose of Ragwort Safely

Removal is only half the job. The Defra code warns that cut and pulled flowering plants may still set seed and that every part of the plant remains toxic when treated or wilted, so pulled ragwort left lying in a field is arguably more dangerous than the living plant. Get it out of the field the same day. Your options, in order of scale:

• Rotting down on site, small amounts: GOV.UK says small quantities can be left to rot on site in a container with a lid, such as a rigid compost bin, to stop seeds dispersing. The RHS warns against putting flowers or seed heads in an ordinary home compost heap, which may not get hot enough to kill the seed.
• Burning: the BHS advises letting ragwort wilt under cover or in paper bags where horses cannot reach it before burning. Plastic feed sacks are unsuitable, because the plants turn to mush and plastic should not be burnt. Watch wind direction, neighbours and nearby roads, since smoke nuisance can be an offence.
• Incineration of larger quantities: GOV.UK says larger amounts should go to an on-site biomass facility or incinerator and that you need an environmental permit to do this; the D6 waste exemption covers small incinerators burning plant waste produced on site.
• Off-site disposal: use a registered waste carrier and a site permitted to take it (GOV.UK). The BHS says a contractor should supply a lidded wheeled or bulk container; open skips should not be used because they spread seed.
• Council green waste: only if your local authority confirms it accepts ragwort, because composting facilities may not be equipped to handle it (BHS, Welsh code).
• Transport: move ragwort only in sealed bags or enclosed containers. The Welsh code suggests cutting off and packing the seed heads first.

On an agricultural or business holding, pulled ragwort is commercial waste rather than household waste, which is why the permit and waste-carrier rules apply (Welsh code).

Ragwort in Hay and Haylage

Dried ragwort is the form horses are least able to avoid, which makes the field you cut for hay or haylage the one that most needs to be clean. The Defra code says any feed or forage containing ragwort is unsafe to feed and must be treated as unfit, and it points out that selling feeding stuffs that are dangerous to animals is an offence under the Feeding Stuffs Regulations. Walk a hay field before it is cut, buy from suppliers you trust, and shake out and look through bales as you feed them. If you find ragwort in a batch, do not feed that batch. Our guide to feeding and storing haylage covers what else to check in wrapped forage.

Preventing Ragwort From Coming Back

Ragwort is a symptom of the pasture as much as a weed. The Defra code describes it as characteristic of badly managed grassland where trampling breaks the sward, where turf has died in drought, or where there is over or under grazing, and it names poor-quality horse pastures as particularly susceptible. The long-term fix is dense grass with no bare ground for seed to land on:

• Avoid poaching. The Defra code recommends taking horses off ground in wet weather, particularly December to March, and avoiding overgrazing at other times. Rabbit control may also be needed.
• Rest and rotate. Move horses before the grass is grazed down to bare patches, and avoid leaving a field half-eaten and half-rough all season.
• Reseed bare ground promptly so seedlings have nowhere to establish. Where the sward cover is poor, the Defra code says renovation through reseeding may be needed.
• Look after the soil. The Welsh code advises maintaining pH through appropriate use of fertiliser and lime. A soil test tells you what your field actually needs, rather than guessing.
• Watch disturbed ground. Disturbance can bring buried seed to the surface (Welsh code), so after harrowing, reseeding or any groundwork, check the worked areas for seedlings the following season.
• Pull every year. With a seed bank that can last years, expect to keep finding plants even in a well-run field. Our complete guide to paddock care covers the rest of the routine.

The same walk-round catches other hazards too. If you are checking for ragwort anyway, look along the hedges for the trees and shrubs on our toxic trees checklist and at the wider list of plants poisonous to horses.

Is It Illegal to Have Ragwort? Your Legal Responsibilities

It is not illegal to have ragwort growing on your land. GOV.UK says so directly: you can have injurious weeds on your land, but you should stop them spreading to neighbouring agricultural land used for grazing horses and livestock, or for producing hay and silage. What the law does is give government the power to make you act.

• Weeds Act 1959 (England, Wales and Scotland). Common ragwort is one of five injurious weeds named in section 1, alongside spear thistle, creeping thistle, curled dock and broad-leaved dock. The Minister can serve a notice requiring the occupier to prevent them spreading. Under section 2, unreasonably failing to comply is an offence carrying a fine of up to level 3 on the standard scale, and a further offence if it is not remedied within 14 days of conviction.
• Ragwort Control Act 2003 (England and Wales). Section 1 created the ragwort code of practice and made it admissible in evidence: a court must take it into account where relevant. GOV.UK says that showing you have since adopted control measures that comply with the code can help you avoid fines.
• England: the Defra code of practice grades ragwort that is flowering or seeding within 50 m of land used for grazing horses or producing forage as high risk, 50 to 100 m as medium risk, and over 100 m as low risk, while stressing that wind, topography and barriers matter too.
• Wales: a new Welsh Government code of practice (NWSI 2026 No. 54), published in March 2026, replaced the old one and tightened the higher-risk band to ragwort within 35 m of land used for horses, livestock or forage, with 35 to 100 m medium risk.
• Scotland: the Weeds Act applies, supported by Scottish Government guidance on preventing the spread of ragwort issued under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.
• Northern Ireland: the Weeds Act does not extend there. Ragwort is instead listed as a noxious weed in Schedule 1 of the Noxious Weeds (Northern Ireland) Order 1977.

Horse owners carry a separate duty to their own animals. GOV.UK says that if you own horses, ponies or livestock you must not allow them to graze land where you know ragwort is present, and that you can be prosecuted if you allow animals to suffer by eating harmful weeds. On a livery yard, the BHS notes that the person responsible for ragwort control could be the landowner, yard manager, tenant or livery client, so check your contract rather than assuming it is someone else's job.

If ragwort is spreading onto your grazing from neighbouring land in England, the BHS offers a template letter as a first step. If the landowner does not act, you can complain to Natural England, but only between 1 April and 30 September, and only with evidence: GOV.UK asks for proof that the risk of spread is extensive, that weeds have spread widely onto your land (more than 10 in one square metre), and that the landowner has failed to act when asked. Complaints cannot be made about spread onto gardens or allotments. If you are worried about the welfare of horses grazing a ragwort-infested field, GOV.UK directs you to the RSPCA, the BHS or the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Checking Grazing You Do Not Manage Yourself

Many owners never choose the field their horse lives in, which is exactly when ragwort gets missed. A few situations are worth a deliberate look:

• Before you buy or move a horse. If you are buying your first horse, walk the grazing it will live on before you sign anything, and ask who pulls the ragwort and how it is disposed of.
• On holiday or away grazing. Campsites and yards that offer grazing paddocks vary enormously. If you are camping with horses, walk the paddock yourself before you turn out, even for one night.
• At livery. Ask to see the yard's routine for walking fields and cutting hay, and whether bought-in forage is checked. If turnout is shared, agree who does what.

If a horse in your care shows weight loss, dullness or loss of coordination after time on doubtful grazing, call your vet. Ragwort poisoning cannot be confirmed from a single test, and liver disease has other causes, including viral hepatitis.

Ragwort and Senecio in South Africa

South African owners are dealing with a different cast. Common ragwort is a European plant, but many Senecio species grow in South Africa, and some carry the same liver-damaging alkaloids. Onderstepoort researchers (Dimande et al., Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 2007, PMID 18237033) confirmed Senecio inaequidens as the plant behind an outbreak in Frankfort, Free State, in which cows died acutely after being put into a camp where it was heavily grazed, and found retrorsine and senecionine in it. The UK statutes above do not apply, but the practical rules do: learn to recognise the local yellow-flowered Senecio species, pull them before they seed, never leave pulled plants where horses can reach them, and check bought-in lucerne and teff for contamination. Your local veterinarian or agricultural extension officer can help identify the species growing on your land.

Ragwort Removal Checklist

1. Learn the rosette, and check the look-alikes before you pull.
2. Walk every field regularly through the growing season, starting with gateways, fence lines and bare patches.
3. Pull or lever plants out at the rosette stage, roots and all, preferably after rain.
4. Wear gloves and cover your arms; wash any sap off your skin.
5. Bag plants immediately and get them out of the field the same day.
6. Dispose of them by rotting in a lidded container, burning, permitted incineration or a registered waste carrier.
7. Spray only at the rosette stage, with an authorised product, applied by a trained person, and keep horses off until the treated plants have gone.
8. Never cut, mow or graze ragwort as a substitute for removing it.
9. Walk hay fields before cutting and inspect every batch of forage.
10. Fix the bare ground and repeat every year.

Frequently Asked Questions