The operation of the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) in 2024 was complicated by the introduction of the Baling Assistance Payment.

This resulted in the area of straw chopped reducing significantly, with the payment under the scheme falling from €16m in 2023 to €4.8m in 2024.

A spokesperson for Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon spoke ahead of the 15 May 2025 deadline for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes, to confirm that the SIM will operate as planned in 2025, with a support payment for farmers that apply and commit to chop and incorporate straw from eligible crops.

For farmers to be deemed eligible, they must have declared any of the following crops on their 2025 BISS application:

  • Oats – winter and spring.
  • Wheat – winter and spring.
  • Barley – winter and spring.
  • Oilseed rape – winter and spring.
  • Rye.

    • No mixed crops are eligible for payment – for example, arable silage, mixed cropping etc. The minimum area of crops on which payment can be claimed is 5ha and the maximum area eligible for payment is 40ha.

    Only full parcels, sub-divisions, or where necessary, plots could be applied on.

    The Department explains that all partners who declare SIM eligible parcels at individual level will be considered under the SIM scheme: “Individual maximum land thresholds will be applicable to each individual partner in respect of the SIM eligible parcels as declared. Only one payment under SIM will issue to the partnership.”

    “All payments due to the individual partners will be combined into a single payment, which will issue to the partnership.”

    Incorporation requirements

    The terms and conditions listed in the 2025 BISS document outline a number of criteria for chopping and incorporating straw. It states that the straw must be chopped, spread evenly, and incorporated into the soil as soon as possible after harvest, and outlines the following requirements:

  • The straw may be chopped and spread by the combine harvester-mounted chopper and spreader. Other mechanical means that ensures adequate chopping and even spreading of straw are also acceptable. Evenness of spread is important to optimise the impact of the straw incorporation. This will be checked during any inspections.
  • Incorporation as soon as possible after chopping is important, to ensure good soil straw contact and begin the microbial breakdown of the straw.

    • In terms of incorporation, the following methods are deemed acceptable:

  • Discing.
  • Tined cultivators that can successfully incorporate the quantity of straw present.
  • Straw rakes as required in strip till, no till situations.
  • Ploughing of straw without prior incorporation with soil is not permitted under this measure. Ploughing in an unincorporated layer of straw can lead to an increased risk of agronomic problems.
  • The parcels can be ploughed for the subsequent crop, but the straw must be incorporated in advance by the above methods prior to ploughing.

    • Selection criteria

    There is €10m allocated from the CAP budfor each year of the current CAP. In 2023, an additional €6m in funding was allocated to cover over 70,000ha entered for chopping from 3,440 applications.

    There are ambitious straw chopping targets under the climate action plan to chop and incorporate 35,000ha of the cereal area by 2025 and 55,000ha of the cereal area by 2030.

    Incorporation as soon as possible after chopping is important to ensure good soil straw contact and begin the microbial breakdown of the straw.

    However, the terms and conditions outline that in the event the measure is oversubscribed, a process of ranking and selection will be applied – with applicants placed into tiers based on their application data.

    The criteria are all based on the areas declared on the 2025 BISS application.

    “It is a combination of crops declared and percentage of grassland/permanent pasture on the holding.

    “The purpose of the tiering is to prioritise entry to those applicants delivering the maximum benefit where the measure is oversubscribed.

    “Applicants will be placed into their relevant tier based on these criteria. Applicants that qualify under Tier 1 will be granted entry to the measure, followed by Tier 2, 3, etc. The total number of applicants granted entry will be determined again by the total budget.

    “Where the total budget is allocated in a particular tier, then applicants in lower tiers will not be considered.”

    It is also important to note that any changes to the crops declared on the BISS application may have an impact on the tier an applicant is in and consequently the applicant’s selection for the measure.

    In short:

  • The following crops are eligible: winter and spring oats, wheat, barley, oilseed rape and rye.
  • Crops must have been declared on the 2025 BISS, with a minimum area of 5ha and maximum area of 40ha.
  • Straw must be chopped, spread evenly, and incorporated into the soil, as soon as possible after harvest.
  • Ploughing of straw without prior incorporation with soil is not permitted.
  • In the event the measure is oversubscribed, a process of ranking and selection may be applied, if required, if additional funding is not allocated to cover all eligible applications.