Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES)
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
ACRES is Ireland's new agri-environment climate scheme under Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan. This new €1.5 billion flagship agri-environment scheme is a farmer-friendly scheme to help address biodiversity decline while delivering an income support for up to 50,000 farm families in Ireland.
The intake into ACRES (‘the Scheme’) will be phased, with at least two tranches.
All valid applications submitted for Tranche 1 were accepted into the Scheme, with 1 January 2023 being the commencement date of the contracts.
The next step is that the successful applicants will receive an approval letter initially, with a more detailed summary approval to follow. The approval summary, which will show where actions have been mapped on the participant’s farm, will be posted to participants with a copy of the Farmland Plant Identification Guide, a booklet developed by the department to help farmers in the scoring process.
It is proposed that the ACRES system will open in the third quarter of 2023 for applications for Tranche 2 of the Scheme.
ACRES Update - Information Note - 09 October 2024
Department update on the situation as regards payments to ACRES Tranche 1 participants, plans for payments, and other aspects of the scheme for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine commenced advanced payments (85%) to ACRES General participants in December 2023. When it became apparent that the making of further advance payments would be delayed, the Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine arranged for a flat rate interim payment for all those who had not received an advance payment by mid-February 2024 to address concerns that delays in ACRES advance payments were causing cash flow difficulties on farms. Interim payments of €4,000 were accordingly made to affected ACRES General participants while ACRES Co-operation participants received €5,000.
The recipients of the interim payments were advised at the time that should the ACRES payment, when finally calculated, come to less than their interim payment, the Department would notify participants of the amount of the overpayment and outline repayment options.
Balancing ACRES payments for 2023 started on 19 June 2024, and to 9th July 2024, 31,808 participants have been paid to the value of €26.2 million. Balancing payments for the remaining 13,252 participants will continue to issue fortnightly as contracts clear pre-payment checks.
Following the calculations of the balancing ACRES payments for 2023 to date, 5,787 participants (comprising of 1,039 ACRES General and 4,748 ACRES Co-operation participants) have been overpaid due to the interim payment to total amount of €10.06 million.
Participants with an overpayment to 18th July 2024
Amount of Overpayment | % of Participants |
Less than or equal to €100 * | 5.4% |
€101 to €2,000 | 62.4% |
€2,001 to €4,000 | 28.3% |
Greater than €4,001 | 3.9% |
* An overpayment of €100 or less will not be recouped and these participants will not receive correspondence in this regard.
Letters will now be issued to both ACRES Co-operation and ACRES General participants outlining the amount overpaid and repayment options available, which are as follows:
• Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).
• Phone - Debit/Credit Card payments can be made over the phone by contacting the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine’s Cash Office at +353 (0) 49 4352053.
• Online - Debit/Credit Card payments can be made using the DAFM online Financial Self Services facility available on your Online Services Account.
• Cheque / Bank Draft / Postal Order.
• Recouped from the next payments to issue to the participants from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
It is noted that, for most ACRES participants, the next payment to issue to them from the Department will be under the Areas Facing Natural Constraints (ANC) intervention in September 2024. If the options above do not suit the participant, there is an additional option whereby the participant may contact the Department to have the overpayment deducted from their next ACRES payments, rather than the ANC payment.
The Department appreciates that there may be circumstances in which there are particular difficulties in paying the full amount at the scheduled time. In such circumstances, the Department may make specific provisions for repayment, on a case-by-case basis.
In all cases, participants must contact the Department’s accounts Division on (049) 436 8207 or e-mail acresoverpayments@agriculture.gov.ie to make payment arrangements. If no contact is made, the ACRES overpayment will be deducted from the next scheme payment.
Any queries regarding the calculations & amounts detailed in the letters should be directed to following e-mail addresses:
ACRES Co-operation participants – acrescp@agriculture.gov.ie
ACRES General participants – acres@agriculture.gov.ie
or telephone 053 916 3425.
Example letters being issued to participants:
Letter for ACRES Co-operation participant who has been overpaid – sample letter
Letter for ACRES General participant who have been overpaid – sample letter
Circular No. 25 of 2024 Scheme Updates – Status of Payments, Overpayments; Scorecard Summaries
Overview of proposed Agri - Climate Rural Environment Scheme - June 2022
This document gave an overview of the proposed ACRES as contained in Ireland’s draft CAP Strategic Plan (CSP). The information was based on the draft CAP Strategic Plan submitted to the European Commission by end 2021. Final information on the Scheme is available below in the Scheme Terms and Conditions and ACRES General Specification.
Guidelines to obtaining Access to Online Systems including ACRES - Information for Agriculture Agents
Circulars and other information for advisors is available at ACRES - Information for Advisors
General: available nationally (outside of the high priority geographical area defined for the ACRES Co-operation approach) and offers a range of actions for individual farmers, both targeted and general.
Co-operation: available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas, and involves results-based payments as well as bespoke farm and landscape actions. Contracts have been awarded for the management of Co-operation Projects (CP), and farmers will be supported by new teams, who will develop local action plans for their zones.
Check out map of each of the zones and the teams who will manage them:
Both approaches require the preparation of a Farm Sustainability Plan to be completed and submitted by an ACRES advisor.
You may only apply for the ACRES General if your holding falls outside of the high priority geographical area as defined for the ACRES Co-operation approach.
You may only apply for the ACRES Co-operation approach if you have 3 hectares or more or 20% or more of your farm holding - whichever is the lower - declared as forage/habitat in the 2021 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) within ACRES Co-operation area.
Farmers can check the ACRES stream they are eligible for through agfood.ie, under the ‘ACRES Access Agreement’ button, or by texting us on 50124 with the message ‘DAFM ACRES’ followed by your herd number.
The ACRES General approach is open to all categories of active farmers eligible in the defined mapped area for ACRES General.
The ACRES Co-operation approach is open to all categories of active farmers eligible in the defined mapped area for ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) zones (shown as colour-coded zones on the map above).
To be eligible to participate in Tranche 1, an applicant must:
If you are participating in other environmental schemes, you may apply for ACRES, but if approved you may have payments adjusted in either scheme to ensure no double funding takes place.
Please contact us if you have any doubts about compatibility of any scheme.
The eligibility requirements for Tranche 2 will be made available in advance of its opening for applications.
The ACRES Co-operation Project (ACRES CP) uses a qualitative approach whereby all forage land included in the scheme will be assessed using results-based score cards with incentives in place to increase scores and improve the landscape being farmed. More information on the ACRES Co-operation Project approach may be found in the document below.
More information on ACRES Co-Operation Project
More information on ACRES Co-Operation Project
ACRES General Farmers Results-based Payments Information Leaflet
Information leaflet on Results-based Payments for ACRES General farmers
ACRES Co-operation (CP) payment over the participating farmer’s five-year contract is made up of:
• an annual core payment for all the ACRES CP results-based payments plus the ACRES general action payments, and
• additional payments if the farmer undertakes supporting actions in the form of approved non-productive investments and/or landscape actions.
The following leaflet explains what results-based payments are and how they are arrived at.
ACRES CP Farmers Results-based Payments Information Leaflet
Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) are actions that are available to participants in the Co-operation approach of ACRES to address environmental issues on the farm, directly contribute to environmental objectives or increase the farmers capacity to improve field scores through management. The leaflet below gives more information on NPIs under the ACRES Co-operation approach.
Result-based payments link the nature quality of the habitats on ACRES CP farmers’ commonage to their payment.
Habitat quality is assessed at the land parcel level by the local Cooperation Project (CP) Team using specifically designed scorecards. These scorecards are the same used to score private land. The leaflet below gives information on the way in commonage is assessed and how payments in respect of commonages are calculated.
If you choose any one or more of the following actions, where relevant to your farm, your application will be considered for Tier 1.
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the Natura (SAC/SPA) mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme. To be considered for priority access, one of the actions a. or b. must be selected on an area intersecting the Natura mapped area.
a. Low input grassland
b. Extensively grazed pasture
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within Natura (SAC/SPA) mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme. To be considered for priority access, one of the actions a. b. or c. must be selected on an area intersecting the Natura mapped area.
a. Unharvested cereal headlands
b. Winter bird food
c. Environment management of arable fallow
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of commonage land declared on the 2021 BPS, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme.
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the Geese and Swan mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme if they select the Geese and Swans action.
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the Breeding Wader hotspot mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme. To be considered for priority access, one of the actions a. b. or c. must be selected on an area intersecting the Breeding Wader Hotspot mapped area.
a. Low input grassland
b. Extensively grazed pasture
c. Environmental management of arable fallow
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the High-Status Water objective mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme. To be considered for priority access, at least one of the actions a. to h. (which are deemed appropriate as identified in the Farm Sustainability Plan) must be selected on an area intersecting the High-Status objective mapped area.
a. Riparian buffer strips or zones - grassland
b. Riparian buffer strips or zones - arable
c. Management of intensive grassland next to watercourse
d. Planting trees in riparian buffer zones
e. Planting new hedgerow
f. Low input grassland
g. Extensively grazed pasture
h. Environmental management of arable fallow
If an applicant selects Conservation of Rare Breeds action and shows proof of membership of breed society at the time of application, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme.
Organic Farmers can apply for the ACRES General approach under Tier 1 provided they are registered with and approved as an organic operator by one of the Organic Control Bodies.
If the Tier 1 actions are not relevant, but you choose any one or more of the following actions as appropriate to your farm, your application will be considered for Tier 2.
(The vulnerable areas are defined as catchment areas to waterbodies identified as Areas for Action which have significant agricultural pressures.)
If a participant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the Vulnerable Water mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 2 priority entry to the General scheme.
To be considered for priority access, at least one of the actions a. to h. (which are deemed appropriate as identified in the Farm Sustainability Plan) must be selected on an area intersecting the Vulnerable Water mapped area.
a. Riparian buffer strips or zones - grassland
b. Riparian buffer strips or zones - arable
c. Management of intensive grassland next to watercourse
d. Planting trees in riparian buffer zones
e. Planting new hedgerow
f. Low input grassland (results-based)
g. Extensively grazed pasture
h. Environmental management of arable fallow
If an applicant (whether beef, dairy or sheep) has a whole farm stocking rate exceeding 130 kg livestock manure (NPH) in 2021 or has greater than 30 hectares of arable crops in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 2 priority entry to the General scheme. To be considered for Tier 2 priority access, at least one of the listed actions a. to f. must be selected.
a. Minimum tillage (min 10ha)
b. Catch crops (min 6ha)
c. Over winter stubble (min 4ha)
d. Grass margins arable (min 500m)
e. Grass margins grassland (min 500m)
f. Low input peat grassland (min 0.5ha)
If an applicant is a participant in the Native Woodland Establishment Scheme or Agroforestry GPC 11 at the time of application, they may be eligible for Tier 2 priority entry to the General scheme.
If an applicant adopts at least one of the tree planting actions a. to c., they may be eligible for Tier 2 priority entry to the General scheme
a. Tree planting (min 100 trees)
b. Planting trees in riparian buffer zones (min 10 trees)
c. Tree belts for ammonia capture from farmyards (min 0.18 ha)
If the Tier 1 actions are not relevant to your farm, and you do not wish to carry out the Tier 2 actions, you may choose any of the following actions and be considered for Tier 3. All potential Tier 1 and Tier 2 applicants can also choose to carry out General actions, where appropriate:
Full list of actions and specifications for farmers in ACRES:
ACRES SPECIFICATION REVISED – NOVEMBER 2022
ACRES Specification document: Full details of the actions farmers must take and payments rate.
ACRES General offers a maximum of €7,311 a year. The level of payment a farmer may achieve will be determined by the payment rates for the actions selected and undertaken satisfactorily.
Co-operation offers a maximum of €10,500 a year with a maximum results-based payment of €7,000 with an extra non-productive investment and landscape maximum of €3,500. The level of payment will be determined by results-based scorecards, non-productive investments, and landscape actions, which will be designed for land-types and region.
ACRES Measure | Farmer Payment (maximum) |
General Measure | €7,311 |
Cooperation Measure | €10,500 (including €3,500 for NPIs and Landscape Actions) |
Action (ACRES General | Margin widths | €per metre/year | €per ha/year | €per unit/year | €per m³/year | ||||
Barn owl nest box | 36.48 | ||||||||
Brassica fodder stubble | 120 | ||||||||
Catch crops | 173.2 | ||||||||
Conservation of rare breeds (per LU)1 | 200 | ||||||||
Environmental management of arable fallow | 1,047 | ||||||||
Extensively grazed pasture | 250 | ||||||||
Geese and swans | 205 | ||||||||
Grass Margin arable | 3m | 0.38 | |||||||
4m | 0.51 | ||||||||
6m | 0.76 | ||||||||
8m | 1.01 | ||||||||
Grass margin grassland | 2m | 1 | |||||||
3m | 1.1 | ||||||||
6m | 1.37 | ||||||||
Coppicing of Hedgerows | 2.87 | ||||||||
Laying of Hedgerow | 5.47 | ||||||||
Low emissions slurry spreading | 1.20 | ||||||||
Management of intensive grassland next to a watercourse | 502 | ||||||||
Minimum tillage | 40 | ||||||||
Planting a new hedgerow | 5.29 | ||||||||
Planting a traditional orchard | 27.49 | ||||||||
Planting trees in Riparian buffer zones | 3.18 | ||||||||
Tree Planting | 6.21 | ||||||||
Protection and maintenance of archaeological monuments- arable | 209 | ||||||||
Protection and maintenance of archaeological monuments- grassland | 125 | ||||||||
Over winter stubble | 86 | ||||||||
Riparian buffer strip – arable | 3m | 0.38 | |||||||
4m | 0.51 | ||||||||
6m | 0.77 | ||||||||
8m | 1.02 | ||||||||
Riparian buffer strip – grassland | 1.5m | 1.30 | |||||||
3m | 1.71 | ||||||||
6m | 2.11 | ||||||||
Riparian buffer zone – arable | 1,242 | ||||||||
Riparian buffer zone – grassland | 1,530 | ||||||||
Ryegrass seed set for birds | 1.37 | ||||||||
Traditional dry stone wall maintenance | 0.76 | ||||||||
Tree belts to capture ammonia from farmyards (0.18 - 0.5 ha) (Max €2514/yr) | 5028 | ||||||||
Unharvested cereal headlands | 12m | 1.26 | |||||||
21m | 2.20 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
24m | 2.52 | ||||||||
30m | 3.15 | ||||||||
Winter bird food plot | 1,000 | ||||||||
Winter bird food strip | 6m | 0.98 | |||||||
8m | 1.31 |
Low Input Grassland 2 (ACRES General)
Field Score | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | <4 |
Payment rate per hectare | €400 | €375 | €350 | €325 | €300 | €275 | €250 | 0 |
Low Input Peat Grassland 2
Field Score | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | <4 |
Payment rate per hectare | €400 | €375 | €350 | €325 | €300 | €275 | €250 | 0 |
Grassland, Peatland, Scrubland – Results-based payment
Field Score | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | <4 |
Payment Rate | €400 | €350 | €300 | €250 | €205 | €175 | €150 | €0 |
Reduced scale for farmers receiving OFS | €150 | €100 | €50 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 |
Commonage (ACRES General and ACRES Co-op)
Field Score | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | <4 |
Payment Rate | €220 | €180 | €145 | €115 | €90 | €70 | €60 | €0 |
Commonage (<10ha) | €120/h |
1. Breeding females that produce a registered offspring above the basic eligibility requirements will be paid an additional payment of €75 per progeny registered up to overall maximum payment ceiling
2. Participants may apply for a late meadow bonus payment of €50/ha
3. Participation payment set at €50/ha on the first 20 hectares irrespective of results-based score. The results based payment rates are inclusive of this participation payment Commonage (<10ha) €120/ha
You must engage an approved ACRES Advisor to make an application on your behalf.
You can use your existing BPS advisor or engage another qualified advisor if you wish.
Information on Agriculture Agents and what you need to do to engage one can be found at the following link: Information on Agriculture Agents.
ACRES Questions and Answers for 18, 22 & 23 November 2022
FARMLAND PLANT IDENTIFICATION KEY – SPECIES GUIDE Second Edition September 2023
ACRES Terms and Conditions for Tranche 2 - December 2023
ACRES SPECIFICATION REVISED – NOVEMBER 2022
ACRES Specification document: Full details of the actions farmers must take and payments rate.
ACRES Circular No 38 of 2024 - ACRES NPI SPECIFICATION DOCUMENT VERSION 2.0 DECEMBER 2024
ACRES Circular No 37 of 2024 - ACRES Conservation of Rare Breeds Declaration 2024 - Submission of Rare Breeds Application
ACRES Circular 36 of 2024 - Extension of Deadline for Submission of Rare Breeds application
Circular 35 of 2024 – Extension to deadline for submission of NPI Applications in 2024
ACRES Circular 34 of 2024 - Reminder about Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) application window
ACRES Circular 33 of 2024 – ACRES Annual Declaration for Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) 2024
ACRES Circular 32 of 2024 – Clarification on Rare Breed Documents required and animals eligible for payment
Circular 31 of 2024 – Opening of Conservation of Rare Breeds portal 2024
ACRES Circular 30 of 2024 - Opening of application system in 2024 for Non-Productive Investments (NPIs)
ACRES Circular 29 of 2024 - Extension to establishment deadline for specific arable-based actions
ACRES Circular 28 of 2024 – Extension for Submission of Scorecards on GLAM
Circular No. 25 of 2024 Scheme Updates – Status of Payments, Overpayments; Scorecard Summaries
Circular 24 of 2024 - Advisor Client Scorecard Report function available on GLAM
ACRES Circular 23 of 2024 – Late Meadow Bonus Payment Claim
ACRES Circular 22 of 2024 - Notification of remaining scorecard training courses
ACRES Circular 20 of 2024 – Updated Scorecard Guidance
ACRES Circular 19 of 2024 – AMS to be used as part of 2024 ACRES checks for Extensively Grazed Pasture and Winter Bird Food
ACRES Circular 18 of 2024 – Information on Webinar on ACRES Scoring in 2024
ACRES Circular 17 of 2024 – Information on Scoring of Land for ACRES Results-based Payments
ACRES Circular 16 of 2024 - Circular to Update Advisors on the Option of Rescoring on BISS Application
ACRES Circular 15 of 2024 – Notification of Mandatory ACRES Scorecard Training Courses – May 2024 and Appendix
Appendix to ACRES Circular 15 of 2024 – Notification of Mandatory ACRES Scorecard Training Courses
ACRES Circular 14 of 2024 - Amendments to the Terms and Conditions of ACRES -Tranche 2
ACRES Circular 13 of 2024 - Extension to the Establishment Deadline 2024 for the Winter Bird Food Crop
ACRES Circular 12 of 2024 - Amendments to the Terms and Conditions of ACRES -Tranche 1
ACRES Circular 11 of 2024 - Exemption to spring requirement of Environmental Management of Arable Fallow for ACRES Tranche 1 and ACRES Tranche 2
ACRES Circular 10 of 2024 - Extension to submission deadline for upload of soil sample results for ACRES Tranche 1
ACRES Circular 9 of 2024 - Extension to planting date for New Hedgerow and Tree planting actions March 2024
ACRES - Circular 8 of 2024 - Amendments to Tranche 1 Specifications for Catch Crops and Over Winter Stubble
ACRES Circular 7 of 2024 - Further ACRES Update on Interim Payments
ACRES Circular 6 of 2024 – Submission of ACRES Claim on BISS 2024
ACRES Circular 5 of 2024 – ACRES Announcement of Interim Payments
ACRES Circular 4 of 2024 – ACRES Training February 2024
Circular 1 of 2024 – Requirement in Relation to ACRES Training
ACRES Circular 31 of 2023 - Clarification on ACRES and Afforestation
ACRES Circular 30 of 2023 - Tranche 2 Update (Application with No Mapped Actions)
ACRES Circular 29 of 2023 - Tranche 2 Opening and Availability of Submission Button for FSP
Circular 28 of 2023 ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) Application System Open
ACRES Circular 27 of 2023 Removal of Irish Provenance and Irish Origin Requirement for Whitehorn
ACRES Circular 26 of 2023 Reminder about LESS declarations and Submission of Scorecards
ACRES Circular 25 of 2023 – ACRES Annual Declaration for Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) 2023
ACRES Circular 23 of 2023 - Extension to Sowing Arable Actions
ACRES Circular No. 21/2023 – Additional Training Courses for ACRES Advisors
ACRES Circular No. 20/2023 –Change of Contract and Scorecards
ACRES Circular No. 19/2023 – Deadline for Submission of Scorecards Reminder
ACRES Circular No. 18 of 2023 – Extension of deadlines for certain actions
ACRES Circular No. 17 of 2023 – Extension of Closing Date for submission of ACRES Scorecards
ACRES Circular No. 16/2023 – Mandatory Scorecard Training
ACRES Circular No.14 of 2023 – Amended ACRES Penalty Schedule
ACRES Circular No.13/2023 – Availability of Late Meadow Bonus Payment Claim on AgriSnap
ACRES Circular No. 10/2023 - Agent Application Form to register as a sub-contractor for the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES)
ACRES Circular No. 9/2023 - Information for Advisors on ACRES Scorecard Training
ACRES Circular No.8/2023 - Scorecards and Agri-Snap Update
ACRES Circular No. 7/2023 - Information for Advisors on ACRES Scorecard Training
ACRES Circular No. 6/2023 – Extension to establishment deadline for 2023 Winter Bird Food crop
ACRES Circular No. 5/2023 - Amendment to ‘Environmental Management of Arable Fallow’ specification for 2023 only
ACRES Circular No. 4 of 2023 –Amendment to Planting a New Hedgerow
ACRES Circular No. 2/2023 – Application to become an approved ACRES advisor
ACRES Circular No. 1/2023 – Amendments to ACRES Specifications
ACRES Circular No. 14 – Points to Note Following Closing Date
ACRES Circular No. 13 – Terms & Conditions and Specifications Document – Revised November 2022
ACRES Circular No. 12 - Final Submission of ACRES Applications
ACRES Circular No. 10 - Submission of ACRES Applications
CIRCULAR 9 – Eligibility as Registered Organic Operator
Circular 7 – Submission of AgriSnap Photos for ACRES Applications
Acres Circular 5 2022 - Setting up as an ACRES Advisor
Acres Circular 4 2022 - Training – Athlone 14 & 15 September 2022
ACRES Circular 3 2022 - Farm Sustainability Plan (FSP) Portal now open - August 2022
Farm Sustainability Plan (FSP) Portal now open
ACRES Circular 2 2022 - Training for Advisors April 2022
Training for Advisors
ACRES Circular 1 2022 - Application to become an approved AECM advisor - April 2022
Application to become an approved AECM advisor
ACRES Scorecards General & Co-operation Approach
These scorecards are for use in both ACRES General and Co-operation approaches, and may be used, where appropriate, on all lands in Co-operation Project areas, Commonage and for relevant ACRES General actions (namely, the Grassland scorecard is to be used for scoring of the ‘Low Input Grassland’ action and the Low Input Peat Grassland scorecard for the ‘Low Input Peat Grassland’ action, both of which fall within the ACRES General approach)
ACRES Scorecard Guidance Document Version 2.1 June 2024
This ‘ACRES Scorecard Guidance _Version 2.1’ document has been prepared to provide guidance when assessing and scoring lands in 2024 for the purposes of ACRES (for both the General and Cooperation approaches)
ACRES Scorecard Guidance Version 2.1 Amendments
The changes from the Guidance document provided for 2023 are shown in ‘ACRES Scorecard Guidance Version 2.1 Amendments June 2024’ for ease of reference
Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) are actions that are available to participants in the Co-operation approach of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) to address environmental issues on the farm, directly contribute to environmental objectives or increase the farmers capacity to improve field scores through management. Public Consultation on the Natura Impact Report in support of the Appropriate Assessment (AA) for Certain Non-productive Investments (NPI) to be made available under the Agri-climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) Co-operation Project (CP) was undertaken and the determination in relation to the availability of such NPIs is published below.
ACRES Co-operation Non-Productive Investments Specification V 2.0 17 September 2024
List of Non-Productive Investments for ACRES Co-operation
Appropriate Assessment Determination in respect of Certain Non-Productive Investments
Landscape Actions (LAs) are large scale actions that are available to participants in the Co-operation approach of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). The LAs are targeted measures that will focus on issues such as invasive species management, encroaching scrub, threatened species and water quality protection, thereby offering benefits to the local environment. These Landscape Actions have been designed to target environmental issues, which have been highlighted in the scorecards for results-based payments and are causing a reduction in the score achieved. The targeted implementation of these actions should improve the results-based score achieved on that field/commonage in coming years leading to an increased payment.
Provisional List of DRAFT Landscape Actions – 11 October 2024
Data Protection / Privacy Notices provide information to our customers about what happens to their personal data in this department. The Privacy Notice for the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) may be accessed at Data Protection Privacy Notices
Tranche 2 Application Procedure, Changes from Tranche 1
FAQs ACRES Tranche 1 Payments and Tranche 2 Information