Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has told the Irish Farmers Journal that tillage farmers will know “very soon” if they have been accepted into the Straw Incorporation Measure. This is as harvest has started on some farms and will likely start on many next week.

At Beef 2026, Minister Heydon said: “There was €10m allocated for last year, we had applications of over €15m and I found extra money to make that up, such is the pressure in that space.

“My budget is a lot more constrained this year so, trying to find that additional money now is a real challenge. It’s something that I’m working through. I want to provide clarity on this as soon as possible.”

However, figures on page 8 show an under-spend in the SIM budget for 2024, which could help to pay this year’s over-subscription.