Press release
McConalogue announces four-week extension of deadline for submission of ACRES Scorecards
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
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, today announced a four-week extension to the closing date for submission of completed scorecards for results-based actions under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). The new closing date will be Friday 29 September 2023 which will give advisors an additional four weeks to complete the submissions.
Announcing the extension, the Minister commented:
“ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan. It is addressing a range of climate, water and biodiversity objectives and the results-based approach is a key driver of the environmental ambition of the scheme. This approach also gives the farmer the opportunity to increase their payments over the lifetime of the scheme. Some 46,000 farmers are currently participating in ACRES with over 1 million hectares of lands in the Scheme.
"My department together with the ACRES co-operation teams has already trained over 600 advisers on submitting scorecards and completed scorecards are being submitted to my department daily. Just under 40% of all scorecards have been submitted already and this is testament to the commitment of the advisors and farmers to this task which is the first time the scoring of agricultural land has been carried out to such a scale."
The Minister added:
"Given the importance of getting these baseline scores submitted in this first year of the scheme and acknowledging the extra workload it creates for advisors. I have decided to extend this deadline for the submission of completed ACRES scorecards by an additional four weeks. This will allow advisors to plan their work over their next eight weeks. It’s essential now that all advisors continue to engage with their ACRES clients and work to have the necessary scorecards completed as soon as possible.”
The Minister also announced significant funding to support the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) for investment in upskilling their members on the work of the ACRES scheme.
The Minister added:
“As with many of my department’s schemes, advisors are a key enabler in the implementation of ACRES. This investment in the ACA will allow them to work with their members and ensure they have the necessary resources to make the scheme a success.”
The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is Ireland’s new agri-environment climate scheme under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan. This €1.5 billion flagship agri-environment scheme is a farmer-friendly scheme with capacity for up to for up to 50,000 farmers. To date, 46,000 farmers have joined the scheme.
There are two approaches with ACRES – ACRES General and ACRES Co-operation.
Results-based payments form the core payment for farmers in the ACRES Co-operation approach, alongside bespoke farm and landscape actions, while there are a number of results-based actions (such as Low Input Grassland, Low Input Peat Grassland) in the ACRES General approach along with a range of prescription-based actions.
Participants in the ACRES Co-operation zones will have their land scored by their approved ACRES advisor, (that is, received mandatory in-field training) in years 1, 3 and 5. These scores will then determine a results-based payment, which is the main component of the payment to ACRES CP participants and also confirm commitment of individual rented or leased fields to the ACRES five-year contract.
The relevant parcels of those participants in ACRES General, and those in ACRES Co-operation whose land is outside the eight designated ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) Zones, who, as part of their ACRES contract, have undertaken the Low-input Grassland or Low-input Peat Grassland results-based actions on those parcels, must also be scored by their approved ACRES advisor. These scores will also be calculated and paid along with any other prescription-based actions in their ACRES contracts.
Result-based payments link the nature quality of the habitats on a farm to the environmental payment. Each field is scored out of 10 using a scorecard that captures the environmental quality of the habitat, which reflects past and current management.
Further information on ACRES is available on the department’s website: Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).