Plants Posing a Poisoning Risk to Cattle Dairy Insight

Plants capable of causing poisoning in cattle are present on many farms and often go unnoticed until stock are affected. Identifying plant poisoning can be challenging, as clinical signs are frequently non‑specific or not immediately obvious, and the plants responsible may no longer be visible by the time symptoms appear. Evidence of grazing on toxic plants is often hard to spot and easily overlooked, particularly along tracks, field margins, or in hedgerows. One notable exception is photosensitisation, a condition caused by ingestion of certain phototoxic plants; over 250 such species are recognised worldwide, with several found in the UK.

In this Dairy Insight, we explore the plants toxic to cattle, focusing on how to identify them and reduce risk by removing them from grazing areas and farm tracks before incidents occur, because prevention is always better than cure.

Issued April 2026

About Kingshay insight publications

Kingshay has been producing bi-monthly publications for dairy farmers since 1991. Publishing on issues critical to the success of a modern dairy farming business.

These briefings include dairy insight, business insight and research insight, they provide dairy farmers, large animal vets, farm consultants and other interested parties with the most vital and timely information in a concise two-page format. The information contained in our insight publications is written and updated by our experts to ensure accuracy and to save you time.

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