The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said that all farmers who apply for tranche 2 of the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) must be accommodated.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue yesterday (Friday, November 24) announced that applications may now be formally submitted for the latest round of the agri-environmental scheme.
The application period remains open until 5.30p.m on Wednesday, December 13 for both ACRES General and ACRES Co-operation.
ACRES
When ACRES was first announced last year, it was envisaged that the €1.5 billion scheme would cater for 50,000 entrants.
It was subsequently announced by Minister Charlie McConalogue that these 50,000 entrants would be spread across two application tranches, the first catering for 30,000 and the second for 20,000.
However, tranche 1, which was open earlier this year, saw a very large degree of oversubscription, with 46,000 farmers applying.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) decided to accept all valid applications, leaving only 4,000 places in the scheme available in tranche 2.
IFA National Rural Development Committee chair Michael Biggins has acknowledged the opening tranche 2 by the minister, but said that more is needed to get more farmers into the scheme.
“The three-week application window is tight and will make it difficult for farmers and planners to get applications fully complete and in on time.
“But more importantly, it is vital that the minister finds the necessary funding to accommodate all eligible applicants,” he said.
Applicants
Biggins said that the scheme cannot be limited to the target for participants set out in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan, “particularly when the demand is there for more farmers to get involved”.
“We either want to achieve our environmental targets or we don’t. The ambition of farmers needs to be matched by adequate resources.
“Many farmers put off applying for ACRES in tranche 1 due to changes in leasing arrangements, land transfers.
“New entrants to farming were also locked out of the scheme in 2022 as they had not made a Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application in 2021, which rendered them ineligible for tranche 1,” Biggins added.
The IFA chair said that there is an urgent need for proactive solutions to deal with the anticipated demand from farmers for the scheme.
“A great deal of low-income families, particularly those in vulnerable sectors, rely on agri-environment programmes to survive.
“At a time when there is so much focus on climate change and biodiversity, it is imperative that all farmers who apply for ACRES under tranche 2 are included,” he said.