The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has extended the deadline for Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
The department had originally set a deadline of October 31 for the submission of NPIs for farmers in both tranches of ACRES.
However, in a circular issued by DAFM to advisors this deadline has now been pushed back to next Monday (November 4).
The department said that it had been made aware that ACRES advisors were experiencing
“certain technical issues” when trying to submit applications for NPIs on behalf of their clients.
“While the issue was of a technical nature and has now been rectified, the department
wishes to advise that, in view of the downtime, the deadline for the submission of such
applications for NPIs in this current application has been extended to 4:30p.m on
Monday, November 4, 2024,” DAFM said.
ACRES
NPIs are small-scale environmental actions available to farmers in the ACRES Co-operation (CP) stream which support nature-friendly management of farms.
NPIs are applied for on behalf of farmers by their ACRES advisor as part of a NPI – Annual Works Plan (AWP).
According to the department, completing approved NPIs allows a farmer to add to their ACRES payment by up to a maximum of €17,500 over the five-year period of their contract.
It added that the NPIs also enhance the environmental value of a farm, potentially increasing the results-based score and, in turn, a farmer’s ACRES core payment.
There are around 40 NPIs available to farmers, including bracken control, creation of field margins, wild bird cover, planting of trees, fencing, gates, and solar pumps.
There are two categories of NPIs available to ACRES CP farmers: NPI Habitat and Wildlife Support and NPI Infrastructure.
If a farmer is in the Burren/Aran CP Zone, a third NPI category is also available: NPI Scrub/Track.