Ragwort - a feast for pollinators

Ragwort plays a huge role in sustaining biodiversity and is an important pollinator, however it can be a problem where horses and cattle are grazed, or where fodder is being grown.

A feast for pollinators

Ragwort is one of our most important wildflowers when it comes to pollination. It feeds a multitude of creatures, even more crucial in the face of the UK having lost more than 50% of our insects since 1970.

• Ragwort is one of the most frequently visited flowers by butterflies, including red admirals and peacocks.
• It provides food for around 178 different insect species – 27 of these insects feed on ragwort alone.
• Around 40 species of night-flying moths are attracted to its bright flowers.
• In turn, all these insects are food for birds, bats, mice, voles and other predatory insects.
• Its flowers last longer than most, so provide a sustained food supply for wildlife.
• Ragwort is the food plant for the stripy black and yellow caterpillars of the cinnabar moth. Eating the poisonous leaves makes them taste bad – giving them a built-in deterrent against predators!

Is ragwort poisonous to grazing animals?

Ragwort can be poisonous to horses and cattle, but only if eaten in large quantities.

Grazing animals and ragwort coexisted long before humans started farming – and ragwort has evolved so that cattle and horses won't eat it in its fresh state. This is because its smell warns them off (hence it’s also known as ‘stinking willy’). Ragwort also tastes unpleasant – another reason they avoid it.

In a modern farm setting, there are two instances where ragwort would be a problem:

• The only time that horses and cattle would eat fresh ragwort would be if there was no other food for them in the field.
• When ragwort is cut along with grass it can find its way into hay or silage. It loses its colour and scent, so grazing animals could inadvertently eat it.

Is ragwort poisonous to humans?

Ragwort would be poisonous to humans if large amounts were eaten. There’s no evidence that it can affect food crops. Guidance is unclear as to whether toxins from ragwort can be absorbed through the skin, so it’s advisable to wear protective clothing when pulling and handling ragwort.

Following the ragwort code

It’s not against the law to have ragwort on your land, nor is there any legal requirement to report it to anyone.

There is a code of practice about the control of ragwort issued by the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It gives guidelines on the main areas of risk, the highest being where ragwort is flowering/seeding within 50m of land used for grazing by horses and other animals or land used for feed/forage production.

We regularly assess ragwort on our land and in cases where there are risks as above, we’ll remove it using mechanical or manual means (not chemicals). Read the code of practice here.