Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has 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, September 29, which will give advisors an additional four weeks to complete the submissions.
The previous deadline was August 31.
Announcing the extension, the minister commented: “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.”
Minister McConalogue 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,” he said.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the minister is also channeling “significant funding” to support the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) for investment in upskilling their members on the work of the ACRES scheme.
The minister said: “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.”
This week it emerged that Teagasc had called on the department to extend the submission deadline for scorecards.
The advisory body had formally requested that the department consider extending the deadline to the end of September for ACRES scorecard completion by advisors.