Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said his objective this summer is for tillage farmers to bale as much straw as possible to ensure there is enough fodder and bedding heading into the winter.When asked by the Irish Farmers Journal what his response to tillage farmers who are excluded from the new €175/ha baling payment was, he said he wants to be as fair as possible to everyone.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said his objective this summer is for tillage farmers to bale as much straw as possible to ensure there is enough fodder and bedding heading into the winter.
When asked by the Irish Farmers Journal what his response to tillage farmers who are excluded from the new €175/ha baling payment was, he said he wants to be as fair as possible to everyone.
“I didn’t want to see straw ploughed in,” he said. He said he wants to see good-quality straw baled and farmers with lower-quality straw, for example oilseed rape, can still chop and incorporate it into the soil under the Straw Incorporation Measure.
“This is a good solution and a good outcome. I think we will see a strong straw market this year. Every farmer that can save straw should be looking to do that. They are being strongly incentivised to bale it. It has been a difficult couple of years, hopefully now the sun shines and there are good windows to save it.”
Fertiliser
The minister also said that farmers now have clarity that there will be no changes to fertiliser allowances for the remainder of the year.
“Farmers now have more fertiliser allowances that they would have been expecting,” he said. He has urged farmers to get in touch with their advisers to see what allowances they have left for the year, what their capacity is and to save as much fodder as possible.
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