As was reported extensively be Agriland last week, the new Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) has been announced and confirmed.
The scheme is the ‘flagship environment scheme’ that was mentioned in the Programme for Government, and will replace the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS).
ACRES will come into effect from January 2023 as part of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – pending approval of Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan by the European Commission.
However, farmers can start preparing for the scheme straight away.
One of the first things a farmer has to do is check which part of the scheme they are eligible for. The scheme has two approaches, ACRES General and ACRES Co-operation.
A farmer (or their advisor) can check which approach of the scheme they are eligible for through Agfood.ie, under the ‘ACRES Agreement’ button.
Alternatively, the farmer can text the department on 50124, saying ‘DAFM ACRES’ followed by their herd number or partnership identification (ID). They will then receive a return text outlining which approach of the scheme they are in.
ACRES General is more straightforward than ACRES Co-operation. The former is open to around 30,000 farmers in most of the country, and will require farmers to take a range of both targeted and general actions.
ACRES Co-operation is a bit more complex. This approach will be open to around 20,000 farmers (with no overlap with ACRES General) in areas of the country which were deemed by a cross-government working group as being high-priority areas.
These co-operation project (CP) zones include areas dominated by semi-natural vegetation (both privately owned and in commonage), Natura 2000 lands, and priority water catchments.
These zones are recognised as having high-nature value; holding significant carbon stores; and as the location of “some of the most pristine waters in the country” according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
These areas were grouped into eight CP zones, based on the geographical area and number of potential scheme applicants in those areas.
These eight zones are outlined in the map below:
The eight CP zones are: Burren; Donegal; East-Southeast; Midwest-Southern Uplands; North Connacht-Ulster; Northwest Connacht; South Mayo-Connemara; and West Cork-Kerry.
Participants in this aspect of the scheme will work with local CP teams, who will direct the implementation of the scheme at local level.
These teams will facilitate co-operation between farmers, advisors, state agencies and local government departments to implement actions to “improve the local environment and the viability of these high-priority rural areas”.
The CP teams will be “multi-disciplinary” groups featuring ecologists, hydrologists, ornithologists and project managers.
The department says that these teams will engage with farmers with “advice and best practice” to maintain or improve the habitats on their holdings. They will also act as a conduit for the department in the administration of payments.
Farmers participating in the scheme will have to liaise with their local CP team on the selection of actions on their farms. How often this engagement will take place will be decided by the CP teams.
The CP teams will begin developing local action plans this year, which will be developed further in 2023 when the teams have more information on the farmers that will be participating.
The actions that farmers will have to take will be based on these local plans, and will tie in with each farmers’ farm sustainability plan (which farmers in ACRES General are also required to have).
The exact actions that farmers will undertake are understood to be similar to the actions for the Rural Environmental Agri Programme (REAP), which served as a pilot for ACRES.
As in REAP, the actions under ACRES Co-operation will be results-based, and the level of payment will be tied to a ‘scorecard’ system.