Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has today (Wednesday, July 31) officially launched the new Baling Assistance Payment (BAP) Scheme.
The new measure will run in tandem with the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) which the minister decided to reinstate this year following a backlash against his proposal to pause the popular scheme.
The objective of this new measure is to help boost fodder supplies by providing targeted support to farmers who choose to bale straw on an eligible SIM parcel rather than chopping and incorporating the straw.
Baling Assistance Payment
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has now finalised the terms and conditions attached to the scheme.
In order to be eligible to apply for the new scheme farmers must have applied for and been notified of their acceptance into the SIM this year.
Only SIM parcels accepted into the scheme can be considered for withdrawal, the department said.
Applicants must notify DAFM, in writing before September 30, 2024 of their intention to withdraw a SIM eligible parcel from the measure.
Only on acceptance of the withdrawal, will applicants be provided with a BAP application which must be completed and returned to the department by September 30.
Crops
The payment of €175/ha will apply for eligible SIM crops, subject to a minimum of 1ha and a maximum of 40ha.
Parcels selected for SIM above the 40ha upper limit will not be considered eligible for the BAP scheme.
The department advised farmers that in cases where the withdrawal of a parcel from SIM brings the eligible SIM area below the minimum 5ha, no SIM payment will issue.
The department said that the eligible crops under BAP are wheat, oats, barley and rye.
Oilseed Rape, which would be likely to be unsuitable for baling anyway, is not an eligible crop under the scheme.
No split/sub divided parcels will be considered eligible for BAP, except in incidences where these parcels were already notified during the application for SIM before May 15, 2024.
Scheme
The department said that geotagged photographs for all BAP parcels must either be uploaded through the Ag Food portal or emailed to the department.
As the actual baling is a central requirement of the scheme, these photos must clearly show the baled straw in the parcel.
A guide to geotagged photos can be found on the DAFM website under the schemes and payments section.
The department said that a BAP payment will not issue to farmers unless geotagged photos have been provided.
Late applications to SIM will be subject to a late application penalty, the department added that no late applications to BAP will be accepted.
All payments made under the BAP scheme will be subject to EU State aid rules, meaning that an applicant must remain within the €20,000 aid limit during a three-year period, which includes the current year and the previous two fiscal years.
The department noted that aid paid out under the BAP will be considered towards the applicant’s aid threshold for the next three years.
DAFM said that it is anticipated that payments will issue in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025.
Commenting on the launch of the BAP scheme, Minister McConalogue said:
“Following discussions with the farm organisations, I am now launching the Baling Assistance Payment Scheme.
“The €175/ha Baling Assistance Payment will encourage tillage farmers to consider baling their SIM cereal crops, instead of cropping and incorporating them.
“I am also encouraging livestock farmers to be proactive and order sufficient fodder supplies.
“As stated previously I believe that pro-active action is necessary to prevent a potential fodder issue for many farmers this year.”