The Agri-Climate Rural Environmental Scheme (ACRES) formally opened for applications last week (October 19).
There is a high level of interest in the scheme, which has the potential to deliver a maximum payment of €7,311/year to ACRES General applicants, and €10,500/year to farmers eligible for the ACRES Co-operation regions.
Applications for the €1.5 billion scheme can only be submitted on behalf of farmers by an approved agricultural advisor and must be submitted before midnight on November 21.
ACRES is one of the big talking points among farmers currently and which measures farmers are selecting to undertake as part of the scheme is of great interest to other farmers.
A full list of the general actions and payment rates is available to view here.
One of the more interesting measures that is causing quite a bit of discussion among farmers is the eligibility for payment under the scheme for animals that are classified as a ‘rare breed’.
If an applicant selects the Conservation of Rare Breeds action and shows proof of membership of the relevant breed society at the time of the application, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General ACRES scheme.
The eligible livestock species are as follows:
Cattle Horses and ponies Sheep and Goatrs Kerry Connemara pony Galway Dexter Irish Draught Old Irish Goat Irish Maol (or Moiled) Kerry Bog Pony Droimeann
Farmers who wish to avail of this measure under ACRES must be a member of the relevant breed society on the day their application is submitted.
The maximum number of livestock units that can be claimed annually for the cattle, sheep and goat breeds and the Kerry Bog Ponies is 20.
The maximum number of livestock units for Connemara and Irish Draught Horses that can be claimed for annually is 10.
The maximum number of livestock units for payment across all breeds is 20.
Breeding females that produce a registered offspring above the basic eligibility requirements will be paid an additional payment of €75/progeny registered up to overall maximum payment ceiling.