€10m from straw scheme to stay in tillage – Minister McConalogue

The straw chopping scheme’s budget of €10m for 2024 will stay within the tillage sector, the Minister for Agriculture has confirmed.

However, no details of how this will be facilitated are yet decided.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Countrywide this Saturday morning, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said he will meet with farm organisations on this in the coming days.

The Straw Incorporation Measure’s budget was increased to €12.3m in 2023 to facilitate all applicants.

‘Prudent approach’

Responding to questions on Countrywide, Minister McConalogue made no move to reverse his decision to drop the straw chopping scheme.

The minister said he was committed to supporting the tillage sector, but added that he felt this was a “prudent approach” given “fodder stores and in relation to poor growth rates so far this year”.

“Importantly, I want to keep that €10m I committed to this scheme in the sector and I’ll be meeting with farm representative organisations this [coming] week and consulting more broadly in terms of how we do that,” he added.

Minister McConalogue reiterated this stance when contacted by the Irish Farmers Journal.

He confirmed that a meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 23 July between himself and farm organisations on the matter.

This comes as there has been mounting pressure on the minister in recent days to reverse his decision to suspend the Straw Incorporation Measure for 2024, a move he indicated on Wednesday 17 July.

With the harvest kicking-off around the country, some farmers had already chopped straw prior to this announcement.