The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has urged farmers to take careful consideration before applying to the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES), and think about the cost burdens that it entails.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) met with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) today (July 15), to discuss the scheme, which is says there are “serious question marks over”.
Deputy president and chairperson of ICMSA Farm & Rural Affairs Committee, Denis Drennan said that there is concern over the effectiveness of the scheme and the benefits it will bring for farmers.
Outlining his main concerns, Drennan said that entry into the scheme places an administrative and cost burden on the farmers, particularly as a consultant must be hired to draw up a plan.
While this is a requirement, there is no guarantee it will pay off, as hiring an advisor does not ensure you will be accepted into the scheme, said Drennan.
“This is hugely problematic and the department need to relook at this aspect of the scheme,” he added.
The ICMSA has also called for the capacity of the scheme to be upgraded to 65,000, as it has concerns that famers within to join an agri-environment scheme will find it “extremely difficult to do so”. Drennan explained:
“In terms of the number of participants, with 50,000 in GLAS and 5,000 in REAP and with both schemes ending at the end of this year, there is going to be 5,000 existing agri-environment participants with no access to an agri-environment scheme in 2023.”
In terms of the conditions of the scheme, Drennan said that the DAFM are making it extremely difficult for family farms to qualify for the scheme. He said this is disappointing given the challenges these families are already facing in relation to environmental pressures:
“This is hugely regrettable and is a matter that the minister needs to address.
“Those who are farming land reasonably intensively have been effectively excluded from this scheme and if the DAFM want to achieve an environmental dividend, providing an incentive to these farmers should be a priority and the current policy of exclusion needs to stop,” Drennan concluded.