Ragwort argument rumbles onwards

Mr Lyle’s letter about ragwort (Yorkshire Post, August 27) is yet another example of the misinformation and myths that abound on the internet and in the Press and which serve to fuel the hysteria surrounding this plant – which is after all a native wildflower.

In June 2011, the Advertising Standards Authority stepped into the argument and ordered a number of organisations (Monsanto, Barrier Biotech Ltd, Ragfork, The British Horse Society and Warwickshire Council) to stop making false claims (wildly exaggerated numbers of horse deaths, claims that there is a legal requirement to control the plant) about ragwort on their websites and in publications.

Mr Lyle implies that ragwort poses a threat to human health. This is disingenuous and simply scaremongering – many wild plants are poisonous if eaten. Should we uproot bluebells and buttercups while we are at it?

Mr Lyle makes light of the biodiversity value of ragwort. He states as a fact that 30 species of insect feed on ragwort but only the Cinnabar moth is entirely dependent. This is inaccurate. Some 177 species have been recorded feeding on ragwort, 22 species are highly reliant and 30 species wholly reliant. These figures are supported by scientific evidence.

Our biodiversity is in peril and it is very sad when so much energy is spent campaigning against ragwort – a plant that is so important in our natural environment – even Defra acknowledges its importance for biodiversity in the Ragwort Code.

If you want a plant to rail against, how about Himalayan Balsam, a non-native invasive weed that is choking native plants out of existence along many of Britain’s waterways?

From: Prof Derek C Knottenbelt, BVM&S, DVM&S, DipECEIM, MRCVS RCVS and European Specialist in Equine Internal Medicine, Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital, Leahurst, Neston.

Howard Frost’s article (Country Week, August 13) extolled the virtues of ragwort and belittled the losses of horses and other stock poisoned by the plant.

He trivialised the toxicity of the plant. The plant is toxic – full stop. Its toxicity is scientifically established in respect of horses and cattle.

It is quite true to say that we simply do not know how many horses die as result of the toxicity but I have always erred on the side of caution when calculating the figures but for sure it is not less than 1,000 horses per year in the UK. The figure of 6,000-plus is possibly high or possibly not and there are genuine medical reasons why that figure cannot be proven or disproven.

What I do know is that horses that die as result of the poisoning die in an appalling manner with unbelievable suffering and if Mr Frost wishes to see some videos of the process of their death, he has only to make an appointment with me. In my own clinic it is more than 10 per year out of a hospital population of 2,500. There are about a million horses in UK – the maths is easy.

The (PA) toxins in ragwort exert their effects by altering DNA in the cells. DNA cross-linking is a known cause of cell destruction and a potential cause of tumors and in one circumstance in Africa where ragwort infusions were fed to humans as herbal remedies, the toll was very heavy.

A very high number of cases of hepatic carcinoma were reported as well as extensive veno-occlusive disease and liver failure. The plant is toxic to people make no mistake. For example, cereals contaminated with ragwort in Uzbekistan were responsible for large numbers of cases of severe liver disease.

Ragwort is not nutritious to stock and it is a matter of enormous concern to me that a few farmers still allow the plant to contaminate their pastures. For many years farmers have used sheep and cattle to ‘clear’ fields of ragwort on the false premise that they are not poisoned by it. That is simply not true although it fair to say that they are not as affected as horses and of course they don’t live as long.

Finally, we have to ask ourselves what is happening to the countryside that allows a hooligan plant to burgeon at the expense of the true biodiversity that is so extolled by environmentalists.

It has taken over fragile eco-systems on the west coast and islands of Scotland, it has spread across the hills of Wales and the Downs of England. It is everywhere and yet the ‘insect huggers’ are still extolling its virtue.

It is almost certainly not helping to correct the balance of plant and insect life in the UK. In Tasmania it has wrecked vast areas of world heritage land. In New Zealand it is a really serious problem. In South Africa the plant is causing massive concerns.

A load of hay exported from UK to Holland caused massive losses in fattening and dairy cattle and the farmer is justifiably disgusted with our lack of proper stewardship of our pasture lands and cropping systems. Lets get real here and lets restore the British countryside to what it should be.