One tillage farmer in Co. Kildare has said he could face an economic loss of about €7,500 should the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) for 2024 be suspended.

Brendan Jackson farms an area of about 185ac, including 24ac of oilseed rape and 43ac of oats for which he would receive SIM payments, as well as for wheat straw which he would also incorporate into the soil.

Speaking to Agriland, Jackson said he is "very disappointed" and "shocked" by the proposal to suspend the SIM for this year made by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue to save fodder for the winter.

While the minister said he wants “to ensure that as much straw as possible is saved for fodder this year”, the Kildare-based tillage farmer said "the market for straw here wouldn't be amazing. We're not in a massively animal intensive area".

In his latest comments, the minister said he is considering an option to make payments to SIM applicants while removing the obligation to chop and plough in straw. He has been discussing this option with farm organisations today (Tuesday, July 23).

Speaking to Agriland following the proposed suspension of the SIM by Minister McConalogue, the Kildare-based tillage farmer said "the decision needs to be reversed". Explaining the financial loss faced, he said:

Jackson said that "for years the cattle sector has got straw as a waste product at no real profit to the tillage farmer, and finally we were getting straw prices that actually meant something", he said referencing €35-40/bale.

However, this won't be achievable now, he said, as there will be "so much extra straw around". Jackson still plans on chopping straw for the soil benefits. "We'll obviously chop the rape anyway, there's no market for rape straw," he said.

He believes the minister should reinstate the SIM with the requirement that rape straw is chopped and incorporated.

For cereal straw he suggests that half could be baled and sold with the remainder being incorporated.

"Tillage farmers are already being penalised on every front. At the rate they're going, there won't be a tillage industry. So we need to protect it," Jackson told Agriland.

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has outlined the crops and areas applied for under the 2024 SIM which are set out as follows: