Ragwort seeds can be carried by the wind this leads people to think that plants growing harmlessly on roadsides pose a risk to livestock. Not only is poisoning of livestock rare but the seeds do not normally spread long distances. This has been studied internationally so we can be quite certain.
One important scientific study involves work that was done in New Zealand, where the plant in the absence of its natural predators has spread widely. In this study it was found that sixty percent of the seeds were dimply dropped around the base of the plants and that very few travelled more than about 40 yards from the parent plant.
Another study in the USA showed that thirty one percent of the plants travelled one metre or less and that eighty nine percent five metres or less and that none were found more than fourteen metres from the plants.
We often see stories in the media where Ragwort is made out to be a windflower that is invasive The words "Invasive weed" are often used even on local council websites
This term is not correct in this context and actually is use in scientific contexts to label foreign plants. Ragwort, despite another common myth is a native plant and an important part of our native ecology. See Ragwort an important plant.