The Straw Incorporation Measure is oversubscribed this year according to figures obtained by the Irish Farmers Journal from the Department of Agriculture.
The area currently applied for under the scheme is a record, totalling 66,482ha of crops and 3,057 applicants.
This means tillage farmers have met their climate targets of chopping 35,000ha of cereal crops by 2025.
Some €10m is available for the scheme in each year of the CAP. However, at this level of demand, a budget of around €15.7m would be needed to make payments for all crops in the scheme.
In the case of over-subscription, a ranking and selection system may be used by the Department of Agriculture. However in 2022, the budget was topped up by €5m with money from the national exchequer.
Notably, just €4.8m was paid out under the SIM in 2024, so there was a significant underspend in that budget. The funds for the Baling Assistance Payment came from the national budget.
The Department stated: “[The] Direct Payments Division will shortly be writing to farmers regarding their 2025 SIM application.”
It should be noted that some of the areas below may be slightly over the area payable as payment is maxed at 40ha, but parcels cannot be split.
Crop areas applied for in SIM in 2025:
Winter wheat - 13,677.12Winter barley - 3,676.18Winter oats - 10,494.52Spring wheat - 2,010.15Spring barley - 16,990.06Spring oats - 9,937.31Rye - 528.86Winter oilseed rape - 8,777.75Spring oilseed rape - 390.22
The Straw Incorporation Measure is oversubscribed this year according to figures obtained by the Irish Farmers Journal from the Department of Agriculture.
The area currently applied for under the scheme is a record, totalling 66,482ha of crops and 3,057 applicants.
This means tillage farmers have met their climate targets of chopping 35,000ha of cereal crops by 2025.
Some €10m is available for the scheme in each year of the CAP. However, at this level of demand, a budget of around €15.7m would be needed to make payments for all crops in the scheme.
In the case of over-subscription, a ranking and selection system may be used by the Department of Agriculture. However in 2022, the budget was topped up by €5m with money from the national exchequer.
Notably, just €4.8m was paid out under the SIM in 2024, so there was a significant underspend in that budget. The funds for the Baling Assistance Payment came from the national budget.
The Department stated: “[The] Direct Payments Division will shortly be writing to farmers regarding their 2025 SIM application.”
It should be noted that some of the areas below may be slightly over the area payable as payment is maxed at 40ha, but parcels cannot be split.
Crop areas applied for in SIM in 2025:
Winter wheat - 13,677.12Winter barley - 3,676.18Winter oats - 10,494.52Spring wheat - 2,010.15Spring barley - 16,990.06Spring oats - 9,937.31Rye - 528.86Winter oilseed rape - 8,777.75Spring oilseed rape - 390.22 
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