The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has ruled out an extension to the deadline for scorecards to be submitted under the new Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
In a parliamentary question, Fine Gael Deputy Colm Burke highlighted “the large volume of farm walks required to be undertaken by agri-advisors within the very short timeframe before the August 31, 2023 deadline”.
The Cork North-Central TD also noted the “significant penalties” outlined by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) including farmers being removed from the scheme if their lands are not scored within a month of the deadline passing.
ACRES
Minister Charlie McConalogue said a key feature of the €1.5 billion agri-environment scheme is the introduction of a results-based system that rewards farmers for environmental efforts.
Participants in the ACRES eight Cooperation Project (CP) Zones will receive results-based payments, while those in the ACRES General stream could have chosen results-based actions on application.
“All these lands will be scored over the summer months, by approved ACRES advisors, who have completed the mandatory in-field scorecard training.
“Farmers can use any approved ACRES advisor to submit these scorecards and my department has developed a phone app (AgriSnap) to streamline the submission of scorecards. Scorecards are being submitted daily by advisors.
“Scoring of land at the correct time of the year is an integral part of the results-based payment model and is essential to ensure the correct payment rate is assigned to the land in question.
“It is essential that all lands are scored by August 31, 2023 to ensure the best period for scoring and to ensure payments can be delivered in November 2023,” the minister said.
As previously reported by Agriland, the president of the Agricultural Consultants’ Association (ACA) has said that many of its members who are currently scoring the scheme are under ““significant mental stress”.
Noel Feeney said that this is due to the smartphone app used by advisors to score land parcels, AgriSnap, giving trouble in areas of poor coverage.
He also pointed to the “numerous” scorecards that must be completed for CP applications, which he said was “mind boggling”.
The ACA president said that asking advisors to complete ACRES CP scoring by August 31, is “an impossible deadline”.