The €10m straw incorporation scheme is dividing opinion among those affected.
While tillage farmers are welcoming the scheme, livestock farmers, mushroom growers and compost manufacturers and farm contractors are all predicting negative effects for their sectors.
While the details of the scheme have yet to be finalised, its shape is becoming clear. Firstly, as reported last week, farmers will receive €250/ha to chop and incorporate their straw. Farmers will apply by nominating plots of land containing cereal crops for the scheme as part of their BPS application.
Application must be on a whole-plot basis, but farmers who wish to chop part of a field, for instance the headlands, can do so by sub-dividing an existing plot.