Farmers were furious when the news broke on Wednesday afternoon, that the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue is seeking to suspend the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) for 2024. Many had started harvest and one farmer described it as a bombshell. Others noted that they made key decisions on keeping poor crops in the ground because the straw scheme provided them with insurance.
Farmers were furious when the news broke on Wednesday afternoon, that the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue is seeking to suspend the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) for 2024. Many had started harvest and one farmer described it as a bombshell.
Others noted that they made key decisions on keeping poor crops in the ground because the straw scheme provided them with insurance.
Others said that this may result in them chopping more straw, because this may cause straw to go down in value, and they will refuse to give straw away this season when they have such low straw yields. It is of benefit in the ground.
The overwhelming reaction was that this is a real kick to tillage farmers when they are down. The decision to suspend SIM, if it comes to pass, could not come at a worse time. Tillage farmers are looking at prices of €180/t for green barley, a drop of €30/t from last year. They struggled to harvest crops in 2023. Wet weather led to poor winter crop establishment and a lower area of winter crops being planted. These crops yield more and so income will be down further.
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