Baling Assistance Payment won't be reinstated for 2025
In February, payments totaling €1.9 million began issuing to farmers under payment in respect of 2024.
However, it is understood that the scheme was established as a one-off and will not be returning for 2025.
However, it is also understood that the closely linked Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) will be making a comeback in 2025.
The BAP was introduced in 2024 as an additional scheme to bolster fodder supplies, which ran in tandem with the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM).
The payment gave farmers the choice to either receive funding by chopping straw under SIM or by baling it under BAP.
The BAP came about after the former Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, had to roll back on his proposal at the time to pause the SIM, which was popular with tillage farmers.
McConalogue had planned to pause SIM in an effort to save more straw for fodder over the housing period for cattle, rather than being incorporated into soil, amid poor grass growth last summer.
Ultimately, McConalogue decided to reinstate the SIM while also introducing the BAP to help boost fodder supplies by providing a targeted support to farmers who chose to bale straw on a land parcel eligible for SIM, instead of chopping and incorporating it.
According to the payment announcement for Baling Assistance in February, tillage farmers in Co. Wexford were in line to receive the largest number of payments, valued at over €434,000.
Meanwhile, farmers in Co. Cork were set to get over €272,000, while farmers in Co. Carlow were in line to receive €235,000.
At the time, the current Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, said that payment runs would continue per week as claims for payment were cleared by his department. The minister called on farmers to provide the required supporting documentation in order to get their payments cleared.
This process is continuing. Last week (week ending Sunday, May 4), €125,000 issued to farmers who participated in the measure.
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