The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has informed farmer advisors of some updates to the terms and conditions of tranche 2 of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
The changes come into effect from today (Thursday, May 9), and ACRES advisors have been informed through the issuing of a circular.
There are changes to the terms and conditions surrounding parcels on which general actions, – other than barn owl boxes – may be located; amendments to the sharing and exchange of personal data; and amendments regarding corrections to dates for soil sampling and the late submission of scorecards.
Amendment to section 8 on the application procedure
This amendment is regarding clarification about parcels on which general actions, other than barn owl boxes may be located.
Amended text:
- 8.13 Except for barn owl boxes, the parcel selected on which a general action or results-based action is to be delivered must have an eligible hectare greater than zero in 2023.
Amendment to section 33 on information and data protection
This amendment is the addition of a sentence in the second paragraph of ‘Section 33.3 Recipients’ (new sentence below).
- S.I. No. 628/2023 – European Union (Cap Strategic Plan, Information Sharing) Regulations 2023, enables the sharing and exchange of personal data, with other public authorities, where it is necessary for the achievement of the CSP.
Amendment to Annex 5 on the ACRES penalty schedule
In respect of soil sampling documentation, the correction of the deadline for submission now reads May 15, 2025.
In respect of the late submission of scorecards, there is a correction of reference year, which should have read ‘2023 BISS’ (Basic Income Support Scheme).
Further to this, there was clarification that penalties in respect of stated non-compliances in relation to ‘Scorecards for CP parcels declared as owned on a participant’s 2023 BISS’ will apply to ‘non-commonage’ results-based payments.
ACRES reminder
Following the issue of approvals under tranche 2 in respect of the ACRES Co-operation approach, this ACRES circular issued a reminder of the following, as outlined in the ACRES specification for tranche 2, in relation to results-based scorecards.
In 2024, once applicants for the ACRES Co-operation approach have been approved as ACRES Co-operation (CP) participants in the scheme, the ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) team in each Co-operation area/zone will assess the CP LPIS parcels for each ACRES CP participant in their respective zones.
The CP team will delineate all forage CP parcels (crop codes LIPP, THM and Permanent pasture) that have an eligible hectare of greater than zero within the CP zone, into Fields.
They will also identify the appropriate results-based scorecards that will be used by the advisor to score those fields.
All results-based scorecards must be submitted by an approved ACRES advisor by the deadline date assigned by the DAFM in year 1 of the ACRES contract and any subsequent years that scorecards must be submitted.
It is mandatory for a scorecard to be submitted in year 1 for each owned forage CP land parcel/field that was declared on the participant’s 2023 BISS application and is still declared on the 2024 BISS application.
If an ACRES Co-operation participant wishes to include, for scoring and payment under their ACRES contract, any CP forage parcel that was declared as rented or leased on their 2023 BISS application, a scorecard must also be submitted for these parcels/fields by the assigned date in year 1 (2024) and the parcel must be claimed on the 2024 BISS application.
Any parcels/fields scored in year 1 of an ACRES Contract must also be scored in years 3 and 5 or, alternatively, in years 2 and 4 of the ACRES contract.