Macra: Changing the goalpost on SIM a 'complete no-no'
Macra has called on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to reinstate the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) "with immediate effect".
Macra is the latest farm organisation to slam a proposal by Minister McConalogue to seek permission from the European Commission to suspend the popular scheme this year.
His ministerial colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Martin Heydon and Pippa Hackett have also voiced their opposition to the measure being scrapped this year.
McConalogue, who said he will continue to engage with farmer representatives on the issue, said that there is a “very strong market for straw this year due to the shortage and the need to replenish supplies”.
Macra president Elaine Houlihan said that tillage farmers need "an environment of certainty" especially in the current volatile market and weather environment.
"The minister's announcement has created uncertainty and anger among tillage farmers.
"Changing the goal post on a scheme that farmers are already engaged with is a complete ‘no no’, it undermines trust and creates chaos for farmers who have already started harvesting crops and chopping straw in good faith to meet the conditions of the 2024 scheme.
"The Food Vision 2030 tillage group report is literally hot of the press, action three within the report stresses the importance of optimising the budget for the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) taking account of the 2030 target for straw incorporation of 55,000ha as set out in the Climate Action Plan," she said.
Houlihan said that the SIM is part of the "tool kit for risk management at farm level" for many tillage farmers and provides them with a choice on how to manage the straw element of their crop.
"This is important given the price uncertainty of grain in a sector that is exposed to global volatility.
"The scheme has multiple benefits including cash certainty for farmers, risk management for weather events at harvest time, carbon sequestration and storage, soil health improvement and cost saving with reduced fertiliser inputs.
“Suspending this scheme files in the face of the Food Vision Tillage recommendations, its increasing the budget for the scheme that we should be discussing instead of trying to save the scheme,” she said.
The Macra president added that everyone appreciates the "potential fodder crisis that is on the horizon", but she said "asking the tillage sector to carry the can is not acceptable".
"The absence of consultation with the farm bodies is no way to make these decisions," she added.
Macra met with Minister McConalogue on Wednesday (July 17) and emphasised that the budget for this scheme must remain restricted funds for the tillage sector.
