Teagasc has sent bills to its farmer clients for charges associated with the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
The payments being sought are in addition to the fees for ACRES services already provided to farmers as part of their applications to the scheme.
The Teagasc advisory charges summary for 2023, which was published this month (July), outlines three additional payments related to ACRES.
According to the document, farmers in the ACRES General approach can be billed €100 where no visit is required.
The charge for ACRES General Low-input grassland (LIG), including a visit, is €200.
For farmers in the ACRES Co-operation (CP) there is a support fee ranging from €260 to €375, depending on the size of the land included in the scheme.
ACRES
Farmers, who have received invoices in the post from Teagasc in recent days, have contacted Agriland to express their surprise and frustration at the bills.
They claim they were never informed by their advisor that there would be any additional charges applied by Teagasc once they had paid for their original scheme application.
The Teagasc advisory charges summary shows there were two specific services available to its existing farming clients in relation to the new agri-environment climate scheme which either included a “visit and mapping service” or “no visit or mapping required”.
Fees for these services were based on farm size and on which core contract a client had signed up to with Teagasc – either the Teagasc club support package (A) or the Teagasc technology support package (B).
The table below refers to ACRES – services available to Teagasc clients who have a current contract for either A or B above.
Farm size <10ha 10-35ha >35ha Visit and mapping required (General or CP) €320 €450 €550 No visit or mapping required (General or CP) €160 €225 €275
These charges remain unchanged from the 2022 advisory charges summary.
However, Teagasc has outlined a series of other price increases for its advisory services this year.
The Teagasc Club support core package has increased by €10 in 2023, while the core package, including derogation has risen by €35.
Similar price increases have been applied to the Teagasc Technology package.
The cost of a derogation plan increases by €60 to €450 and a farm restructuring relief certificate (Capital Gains Tax) rises from €350 to €550.
The charges for various dairy, beef, sheep, tillage and equine discussion groups remains unchanged.
Fees for an advisory visit (€115) or consult (€75) also remain at 2022 levels.
Agriland has contacted Teagasc for comment.