The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has told Agriland that farmers will have to supply geotagged photos to claim the straw baling scheme payment.
It follows confirmation from Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue last week that the measure which will have a payment rate of €175/ha would “run in tandem” with the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) in 2024.
The minister had previously announced a proposal that the SIM would be deferred this year, due to concerns over a winter fodder shortage.
The decision resulted in harsh criticism from farm organisations and several politicians, including from within the minister’s own department.
The department reiterated that funding previously allocated under SIM, will remain available to the tillage sector.
“While no additional funding will be made available, farmers will have now choice and flexibility to choose whether to receive funding by chopping straw under SIM or by baling it under the new scheme,” a DAFM spokesperson said.
Straw
Any eligible SIM participant can apply for the baling payment, the department said that it will issue information on how to apply for the new scheme “shortly”.
“When a farmer wishes to withdraw a parcel from SIM, they will need to inform DAFM in the usual way, and then complete a simple form detailing parcel numbers, area and a geotagged photo of the bales in the field.
“The key aim of the measure is to ensure baled straw is available, therefore the actual baling is a central requirement.
“Each farmer must ensure they have a geotagged photo of bales in the parcel(s) applied for when baling is complete. Timeframes for baling will be confirmed shortly,” the DAFM spokesperson told Agriland.
Geotagged photos, which contain GPS co-ordinates, were first introduced by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in 2018 as an option for farmers to support their scheme application and establish the eligibility status of a land parcel.
DAFM subsequently developed a geotagged photo app for smartphone and mobile devices known as AgriSnap which enables farmers or their advisor to send land parcel geotagged pictures and information.
Agrisnap has been used by farmers participating in the SIM since 2022.