Tillage group asks that all straw area is fully funded

Tillage Industry Ireland (TII) has asked that the full area applied for under the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) be fully funded.

“We ask that the SIM would again be fully funded to support all of the area submitted on farms in 2026 and 2027, as this acts as an important support measure for the sector,” the group said.

In its budget requests, it placed the extra funding for the measure at €5m, an estimate of where the extra spend might land. The annual budget for the SIM is €10m.

This year, about €16.8m would be needed to fund initial applications, but it is highly likely that an amount of the area will be pulled out of the SIM, so €16.8m would not be needed.

Uptake

TII said: “The uptake and benefits of both the Protein Crop Scheme and the Straw Incorporation Measure can be seen as proportionate to their uptake on farms.”

In its submission, TII said: “It is essential to acknowledge that the sector is, and has been, under huge financial pressure for a few years now.

"Incomes are being decimated as a result of increased costs and decreased incomes and the sector needs financial support, hopefully only in the short term, to ensure acres remain in tillage production.“

It also outlined how convergence and the current CAP had cut incomes on tillage farms, adding that Irish crops produce “very low carbon footprints”.

The submission also said that growers are always willing to take on additional measures which help with environmental stewardship. The SIM is a great example of this.

You can view the full figures on the SIM from crop areas to withdrawals last season by clicking here.