The online facility for the annual declaration of low emission slurry spreading (LESS) under the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is now open and available on the Agfood system.

In a circular to ACRES advisors, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said that the online portal on the AgFood system for the completion of the annual declaration for the LESS action for 2024 is open.

The declaration may be completed on the online portal on the AgFood system by the ACRES advisor on behalf of their client, or by the ACRES participant themselves.

The last spread date for slurry was September 30, with the closed period commencing on October 1.

The LESS form is now available on AgFood accounts to complete for the relevant business IDs who were approved into ACRES with this action.

There are several requirements to be fulfilled under the ACRES LESS action.

Holdings must have a grassland stocking rate of less than 100kg of nitrogen (N) per hectare from grazing livestock manure, prior to the export of any manure.

All the slurry applied on the farm (produced and/or imported) must, for each year of the contract, be spread by one or a combination of:

  • Band spreading;
  • Injection systems;
  • Trailing shoe.

Pig slurry is not eligible for payment under this action. Only slurry produced on the holding (excluding pig slurry) is eligible for payment.

Participants must retain, and provide if requested, documentary evidence to confirm the spreading method used, and the volumes spread on the holding; for example, a calculation of the slurry produced, imported, spread and/or a receipt from the contractor or other evidence, as required.

The minimum volume of slurry that must be applied on the holding each year of the contract using one of the above listed methods is 50m3. For ease of calculation, 1m3 is equal to 1,000L (220 gallons).

The participant or their approved ACRES adviser must submit a completed annual slurry declaration return to the department on the online portal.

Only parcels with eligible hectares greater than zero claimed on the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) 2024 will be available to select from the drop-down menu on the online facility.

Volume produced and volume imported must be entered in separate fields, and at least one of the fields must be filled in.

Multiple spread events on the same parcel can be input.

Receipts are not required when completing the form. However, the receipts must be kept by the participant with their record sheets, and be made available for any inspection.

The LESS return must be completed on the portal by December 31.

Failure to complete and submit the LESS return will result in a delay in making the 2024 ACRES advance payment and may result in the rejection of the LESS action from an ACRES application, or further financial penalties where LESS was the only priority action on an ACRES application.