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The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has sought an urgent meeting with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue over his plans to seek a scrapping of the Straw Incorporation Measure for 2024.
IFA president Francie Gorman has been critical of the Minister’s announcement to shelve the €250/ha scheme for this year amid tightening straw supplies.
“There is no doubt there are concerns about fodder availability for the upcoming winter,” Gorman said.
“However, what’s needed is for the Minister to sit down with all stakeholders and make a proper plan which considers all sectors and all options. The Straw Incorporation Measure has been positive for tillage farmers during very tough conditions.”
Gorman stated that last week’s meeting meeting of the Fodder and Food Security Committee heard discussions on straw availability and straw chopping, but there was “no consensus or even a formal proposal to suspend the measure”.
“The Minister has now completely ignored this group and driven on with his own announcement,” the IFA president said.
Income hit
The association’s grain chair Kieran McEvoy said that axing the scheme would leave tillage farmers disillusioned.
“The reality is that tillage farmers can opt out of the scheme if they so wish. Leaving this option open until after the harvest would see a lot of the better straw baled rather than ploughed in,” commented McEvoy.
“Straw from some crops will not be suitable for forage, so removing these hits the bottom line for tillage farmers.”
The grain chair said that the Minister’s announcement comes as tillage incomes are set to be “hammered” by bad weather, poor grain markets and a lower area of winter crops.
“Earlier this year, the Minister himself announced that he intended to support tillage farmers with a payment of at least €100/ha,” McEvoy continued.
“There is still little or no detail on this and now the Minister is taking a payment away from tillage farmers.”
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