Prior to owning our farm in Farndale on the North York Moors I never knew bracken was the problem it clearly is! The Moors and uplands in general are covered with the stuff. It is considered to be one of the most successful of the fern family of plants, growing on every continent except Antarctica. It is also one of the oldest, with fossil records stretching back over 55 million years.
I had thought it was just part of the hill environment, surely there is nothing sinister about it. However it turns out that bracken grows at an incredible rate, smothering heather moorland and invading grass grazing areas.
Growing to three foot high or more in our fields the plant has a root system that can weigh up to 50 tonnes per hectare, so it is quite difficult to eradicate. Professor Rob Marrs of Liverpool University offers the the comparison that 'a good wheat crop would yield just six tonnes per hectare'.
And the situation gets worse:
1. The spores of bracken are carcinogenic, causing cancer in animals and people
2. The plant itself is poisonous to sheep and cattle
3. It's one of the preferred habitats for ticks that suck the blood of sheep, bird chicks, deer, dogs and cats
4. Tick bites can transmit Lyme Disease to humans!
Clearly it is vital that we remove/control/eradicate bracken to prevent it taking over our land and sneaking over to our neighbours. It would be great if there was a grazing animal that would eat it, but as noted above it is poisonous. Using a safe herbicide appears to be the only economic solution in terms of cash, time and effort.
The only bracken specific product available is Asulam (Asulox). Until very recently there was some doubt as to whether or not it would be banned by the EU. The Farmers Guardian reported on 17 May 2011 that scientists have recommended a reprieve. A final decision is still pending however...
Hopefully sense prevails and a replacement is developed prior to the only solution being eradicated more effectively than the bracken itself. The key has to be a safe, effective agent deliverable by spray or weed wipe. And helicopter spraying has to be a factor when the nature of the terrain bracken enjoys is considered. Many quad bike equipped contractors will not entertain our steep hillsides (why a bruiser or basher is not a solution) and the large local estates have thousands of acres to manage.
Hopefully we will see a helicopter spraying the bracken on our farm this summer, unless of course we find something else to do with the stuff..!
Background (thank you) courtesy of: http://www.liv.ac.uk/researchintelligence/issue24/brackencontrol.html
Farmers Guardian: http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/livestock/livestock-news/mep-praises-eu-asulam-reprieve/39009.article
No comments:
Post a Comment