Originally from: Frances Fish
                        
Dear Bill, every single part of this plant is poisonous, mostly to horses, also to cattle and sheep(it is fallacy to say sheep are not affected), it is a cumulative liver toxin. It is at its worst when inadvertantly cut for hay, when dried it is more palatable and is eaten unoticed by hungry stock. It is most definitely on the increase, both our immediate neighbours (bless 'em ) fields are riddled with it. It is also wrong to say nothing can be done about it, there are, as I recall when I read up about it, specific chemicals which are effective, particularly when used at the "rosette" stage in late spring. Like everything else, they cost money and effort. As Jane so rightly says, it would be nice if the verges were cleared of it, perhaps as an example to others ? Could not Mrs Beckett or the lovely Mr Meacher allocate some grants for its eradication ? Yes, they could, but they wont. If a few more animals die, it will save Defra/Seerad the trouble of killing them.In their distorted view, this has to be cost effective. If I was paranoid (who me ?) I could even have a conspiracy theory, that someone has been around, spreading seed !!! Only joking, but ragwort is no joke, luckily it does not flourish on hills or would take over when the sheep clearances take place. I expect bracken and gorse will win out here. As for the walkers, no chance, they do not know how much they owe to the sheep they revile so unjustly, yes, there is a lot to be said for sheep .