HORSE-owners have been urged to have their say on the latest draft of Defra's code of practice on ragwort.

The British Horse Society has asked all horse owners, landowners and other grazing animal owners to obtain a copy of the report and submit their comments after concerns were raised about guideline distances for assessing ragwort risks.

The society said that despite scrutiny by various organisations since the first draft code of practice was launched last July, it still had concerns about how ragwort risk was assessed in relation to its proximity to land used for grazing livestock or forage production.

The code suggests risk is high when ragwort is flowering or seeding within 50 metres of land used for grazing by horses, risk is medium when ragwort is between 50 and 100 metres away and at low risk when it is more than 100 metres away.

Although the code suggests local circumstances should be taken into account, the society believes the parameters are still too narrow.

It has asked horse owners who have experienced ragwort growing outside the parameters to provide evidence to Defra.

Copies of the code of practice can be downloaded from the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk.