Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has announced that the training scheme under the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is now available to provide training courses to farmers approved into the scheme under tranche 2.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s ACRES Training Scheme (ATS) system is now open for the creation and provision of courses to all of the tranche 2 intake as well the “small number” from tranche 1 who still need to attend the mandatory course.
The ACRES training courses are arranged and provided by approved trainers, a list of whom is published on the department’s website.
ACRES participants who wish to attend the mandatory training course should contact an approved trainer to arrange attendance.
As the 536 approved ACRES trainers are located throughout the country, there should be opportunities for participants in the scheme to avail of courses in their vicinity over the period to the end of 2024, according to the department.
The scheme requires all participants to attend a single compulsory ACRES training course in the first year of their participation in the scheme.
This is to facilitate knowledge transfer and acquisition of information on specific actions, complemented by on-line demonstrations and advice on good environmental practices.
Speaking about the training courses, Minister McConalogue commented: “The purpose of the ACRES training course is to provide information to farmers about the implementation of ACRES actions and to show how their participation in the scheme is helping to address environmental, climate and biodiversity challenges.
“While attendance in their first year of participation in the Scheme is a core mandatory requirement for all participants, feedback from farmers shows that they have found the courses informative and useful.
“In addition, the practical on-farm elements together with the opportunity to engage directly with fellow participants, helps farmers to learn from each other’s experiences in undertaking certain actions,” Minister McConalogue added.
The minister said that “practically all” of the the scheme’s tranche 1 participants have attended the training.
“ACRES trainers last year succeeded in providing training to practically all of the farmers who came into tranche 1 of the Scheme. This is a significant accomplishment and I want to acknowledge their commitment to the scheme,” Minister McConalogue commented.