The Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) is oversubscribed this year.

A record 73,172ha of cereal and oilseed rape straw have been entered into the scheme, which is hugely positive.

In a year where tillage is under pressure, the SIM gives some certainty of income.

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Land is leaving tillage. Area is down 2.1% in 2026. The figure also puts tillage farmers on track to meet the Government’s climate action plan target to incorporate 85,000ha of straw by 2030 to help with carbon storage.

As combines come out of sheds and some have cut crops across the country, farmers have not received acceptance letters for the measure from the Department of Agriculture.

However, in previous years, the Government has funded overspends and, last year, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon was keen to give certainty to growers that it would be funded.

In June 2025, Minister Heydon told the Irish Farmers Journal that he is a major fan of the SIM and that’s why he fully funded it in 2025 and voiced his concerns when there was an attempt to scrap it in 2024.

Speaking on the Tillage Podcast at that time, he said: “The reason I stood in on straw incorporation is because I’m a major fan of the scheme. I stood up for it last year when I felt there was a mistake being made around policy direction. I absolutely defend that.”

So, tillage farmers are expecting that money to be paid and are depending on it. Many growers planted crops with the payments built into the budget.

How much money does the Minister need?

The good news is that the SIM has seen under-spends in two years. The current CAP runs from 2023 to 2027. It is five years and the SIM has a budget of €50m for the five years or €10m per year of the CAP. This money is ring-fenced CAP funding.

In 2023, €12.3m was paid out to farmers. In 2024, €6.68m was paid out to farmers and in 2025, €8.3m was paid out to farmers.

This means there was an overspend of €2.3m in 2023. This €2.3m came from the Department of Agriculture at the time and did not come from the ring-fenced budget.

There were under-spends of €3.32m and €1.7m in 2024 and 2025 respectively. In 2024, the Baling Assistance Payment money came from the National Exchequer.

So far then, the SIM budget has been under-spent by about €5.02m in the three years of the CAP so far.

This would bring the available budget for 2026 to €15.02m. The current area applied for equates to about €16.8m, according to Irish Farmers Journal calculations.

Inevitably, parcels will be pulled out of the SIM, so this figure will decline. Some 282 farmers withdrew in 2025. If 4,000ha of cereal straw were withdrawn, that would equate to €1m in payments, for example.

With a €10m budget available and a €5m under-spend in the budget so far, that adds up to €15m. It looks like the Government will have the funds to cover applications this year, following withdrawals from the scheme without possibly having to dip into other finances.

Withdrawals

Livestock farmers should continue to book their straw before combines move into fields. Tillage farmers should know that if they find a customer for straw they can withdraw parcels by emailing sim@agriculture.gov.ie or phoning 057-867 4422.