Moving to abandon the straw chopping scheme for 2024 is a significant move. It highlights how serious the minister thinks the fodder shortage must be.

The timing of his announcement is difficult. Some tillage farmers have already chopped their straw, and many others had budgets completed based on getting this payment.

Now, at the stroke of a pen, it’s gone.

This payment was underpinning the viability of oilseed rape and poorly established winter barley crops following weather difficulties.

The Department had confirmed this payment in the spring when queries were raised by already very stressed tillage farmers. The flexibility not to chop was there for tillage farmers to pull out if they had a buyer, or if the straw had been pre-booked.

Now the goalposts have been moved late in the day for many farmers. It also undermines the carbon sequestration project to increase soil carbon.

A bit like the weanling beef scheme announced last week – farmers cannot get the payment if their weanlings are gone before the measures were announced.

As much as they would like it, the payment is simply not available to them. Again, the timing of the minister’s announcement leaves a lot to be desired.