Latest news with #ACRES
Agriland
9 hours ago
- General
- Agriland
Scorecards for ACRES 2025 payments sent to advisors
Scorecards for lands for results-based payments under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) have been sent out to ACRES advisors this week. The department has also provided an updated version of the ACRES scorecard guidance document, which provides information to advisors on the way in which the lands concerned should be surveyed, and on the completion of the relevant scorecards. Advisors are being reminded that, for the scores submitted to be deemed valid and used in the determination of ACRES payments for 2025, they must be submitted by an approved ACRES advisor who has completed mandatory in-field scorecard training in 2025. Courses to provide this training are currently being provided, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said. There is also a specific introductory, basic scorecard training course being provided for those advisors who did not attend a mandatory ACRES scorecard training course in 2024 (for example, where an ACRES advisor has only been approved as such since summer 2024). When completing the Scrub/Woodland scorecard on the AgriSnap photo app, advisors should only select either section A1-S (Scrub) or A1-W (Woodland), depending on the habitat type present. Advisors should also ensure that only the relevant section is completed. Entering information in both sections A1-S (Scrub) and A1-W (Woodland) will result in an inaccurate score and subsequently a delay in payments to farmers. All scorecards – both Co-operation Project (CP) results-based scorecards and scorecards for general actions – for each holding must be submitted within 14 days of initiating the first scorecard. The last day for submission of all scorecards to the department is August 31 each year, according to the specifications of the ACRES programme. Once an ACRES scorecard has been submitted in full, it will not be possible to make further changes to the scorecard and it cannot subsequently be amended. Advisors are being told that it is therefore essential that they are 'fully satisfied' that scorecards are correct at the time of submission.
Agriland
a day ago
- Business
- Agriland
ACRES payments ‘could be too little, too late' for future schemes
The issuing of delayed balancing payments for 2023 and 2024 under the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) 'could be too little, too late' for future agri-environment schemes, one farm organisation has warned. As the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine works towards getting ACRES payments out to farmers, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association (INHFA) has said that the hold-up to these payments has caused 'irreparable damage' to both ACRES and similar schemes that might exist in future. Pheilim Molloy, the national chairperson of the INHFA, said that while recent progress made in getting balancing payment out is positive, it has nonetheless left many farmers in an 'unacceptable' position. He said: 'As we move into June and past the half point of ACRES programme we need to recognise that there are over 1,000 farmers that applied to join ACRES in November 2022 still awaiting their balancing payments. 'For these farmers and many more that have only been paid in recent weeks, the wait for their payment in addition to clarity on their overall payment is unacceptable.' 'Beyond these 1,000 farmers there are over 5,400 farmers still awaiting their first payment for 2024 which [amounts] to 10% of the 54,082 participants in the ACRES programme,' he added. According to Molloy, this has left these farmers 'in a vulnerable financial position, due to uncertainty around payment dates and the balance of their overall payment'. 'This will leave farmers reluctant to join future schemes, especially where there isn't a clear indication of what payment farmers can expect to get, as well as definite timelines around these payment dates,' the INHFA national chair added. The INHFA representative also cited concerns around habitat scoring for commonage farmers in the Co-operation Project (CP) areas. For these farmers, landscape actions (LAs) were included to assist farmers on improving their habitat score, but as of yet none of these actions have been made available. 'This is another example of farmers losing out due to the failures of the department, which has indicated that these actions will not be available until the second or third quarter of this year,' Molloy said. 'Based on ACRES deadlines it is reasonable to now assume that these LAs won't be available until at least September which will be too late to positively influence the habitat scoring that has already started on these commonages,' he added. 'For these farmers and indeed all other farmers in ACRES, the inability by the department to deliver on payment dates and the actions to support farmers will be the defining element of the scheme, as well as being a major factor in their decision to partake…in any future agri-environment scheme,' Molloy said.
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
New hedge must be planted before old one removed, farmers told
Farmers have been reminded that the only exceptions allowing removal of hedgerows are for farmyard expansion, widening gaps for larger machinery, or road or farm safety issues. Only the minimum necessary length of hedge can be removed. Under road safety, an unacceptable level of risk must be identified by the Local Authority, the National Roads Authority, or the Gardaí before a hedge can be removed (for example, if a laneway is too narrow for modern machinery or commercial vehicles). Under farm safety issues, a hedgerow in a field with a gradient in excess of 15% in arable land or 20% in grassland, as flagged on the BISS map layer, can be demonstrated to cause an unacceptable risk (for example, if a farmer wants to plough for first-time tillage, necessitating turning on a steep hill). Since 2009, hedgerows have been designated as landscape features, and beneficiaries of CAP payments (such as BISS) are obliged to retain them, according to a recent update by Mícheál Kelly, scheme support specialist with Teagasc. Farmers have heard a lot recently about GAEC 2, but it is GAEC 8 that deals with retention and maintenance of non-productive features such as hedges, and other areas to improve biodiversity on farms. GAEC refers to Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition in the terms and conditions for EU farm income support. Hedgerows are vital for biodiversity, providing essential habitats and travel corridors for numerous species, while also supporting a rich array of plant and animal life. A hedge means a line of shrubs and/or trees, maintained to form a barrier for controlling animals or marking land boundaries. It can vary from a dense barrier to individual trees. A gappy hedge, with at least 20% of hedgerow species (including briars, gorse etc.) dispersed along its length, is still considered a hedgerow. Briars on an earthen bank are also protected landscape features. Many earthen banks on their own are recorded as national monuments, and as such are designated landscape features, afforded the same protection as hedgerows. Even where hedgerow removal is permitted under exceptional circumstances, there are conditions attached. The work cannot be done between March 1 and August 31. And the original landscape feature must be replaced, prior to its removal, by twice the length to be removed. This must be like-for-like: only a hedge can replace a hedge. So if 10m of hedgerow is to be removed, 20m of hedgerow must be planted in the same vicinity before the removal work can commence. The replacement hedgerow cannot be funded under an agri-environment measure such as ACRES or the Eco-Scheme. It must consist of traditional local species and cannot include amenity species such as laurel or conifers. New hedgerows should ideally connect with existing hedgerows or woodlands. A hedgerow or line of trees planted in front of or alongside another hedgerow, planting a line of trees, or planting a grove of trees does not fulfil the replacement requirement. Planting within the curtilage of a dwelling house is not permitted. In designated areas (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, or National Heritage Area), prior approval from the National Parks and Wildlife Service is required for any hedgerow removal. As field boundaries, hedgerows are also protected by Environmental Impact Assessment regulations (even if there is no BISS application). Therefore, landowners must apply for screening if they wish to remove any field boundary over 500m in length, or if removal of any field boundary would result in the creation of a field over five hectares in size, whichever is the lesser. These thresholds refer to the cumulative total over any five-year period. EIA assessment is also required wherever proposed works are to be carried out within (or may affect) a proposed NHA or a nature reserve, or wherever proposed works may have a significant effect on the environment. Read More Impunity for environmental crimes sees our hills burn
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Enough hedgerow to reach from Cork to Kiev planted under ACRES
Some 2,400km of new hedgerow, enough to go from Cork to Kiev, have been planted under the country's flagship €1.5bn agri-environmental scheme, ACRES. But the country still faces a biodiversity crisis, the Dáil was told during statements on nature and wildlife. It was held to highlight National Biodiversity Week, organised by the Irish Environmental Network and funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Ministers pointed out more than 54,000 farmers are now participating in ACRES and much progress has been made in delivering highly ambitious landscape actions. But the Dáil was also reminded by Kerry Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly that much of the natural environment is under threat. Our life support system is on the brink of collapse and the picture is stark. Over the past 40 or 50 years, every single indicator has been on a downward trend. 'Natural habitats are being degraded or homogenised, forest cover is being eroded, and species are becoming extinct. 'We, as a country, share a deep connection with nature and this is a devastating loss for Ireland. 'As a result of the deep connection we have with nature, however, there remains hope — hope that with the right determination and political will, we can turn this ship around. We are required to act,' he said. Agriculture minister Martin Heydon said the amount of land farmed organically since 2020 reached 225,000ha last year. Organic farmers are reducing their use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, improving soil health and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions reductions. This is just a flavour of how the implementation is delivering on the objective set out in the €9.8bn strategic plan, which extends to all aspects of agriculture and rural life in Ireland, he said. Mr Heydon said ACRES aims to address the more complex environmental issues through targeted actions on farm and landscape level. 'The scheme has encountered issues, of which I am acutely aware, as it sets a new framework for delivering on complex environmental actions in tandem with farmers and advisers,' he said. Nature and biodiversity minister Christopher O'Sullivan said he was under no illusion. We have not solved the biodiversity crisis. Species are still in trouble. Habitats are still under threat and many trends are going the wrong way. However, we have an opportunity to fix that. 'We are putting together a nature restoration plan, and we should use it as an opportunity, first and foremost, to improve outcomes for biodiversity, but it should also be done in a collaborative way. 'We need to include landowners, farmers, stakeholders and conservationists. Collaboration is the key', he said. Mr O'Sullivan said he had seen at first hand the amazing results of collaboration between farmers and conservationists. 'Corncrake LIFE was a difficult journey at the start. There was distrust between the conservationists and the farmers. 'It was a frosty relationship, but now we are the stage where those same farmers and conservationists are having cups of tea in the farmers' kitchens and depending on one another. They need one another. 'It has not only resulted in a good outcome for farmers, with them benefiting financially, but we are seeing it have a benefit for an extraordinary bird, the corncrake, that has such an important place in Ireland's history. 'We are seeing their numbers increase significantly in some areas because of this collaboration. It is a model for how Ireland should move forward to benefit nature,' he said. Labour TD Ciarán Ahern said some 91% of the country's habitats were in an unfavourable condition and 15% of protected species were in decline. A lot of the degradation we have seen in our biodiversity and ecosystems is, historically, of farming practices. I acknowledge there is a lot of anxiety among that cohort about the necessary measures we have to take in the agricultural space in order to deal with this crisis. 'We saw that in some of the responses to the nitrates directive and the EU nature restoration law, especially in regard to rewetting. We urgently need to rewet a considerable amount of our peatlands, but we must do so in a manner that ultimately benefits those who work that land. The principles of a just transition must apply,' he said. Cork TD Liam Quaide said the legal protections in place for habitats were wide open to abuse, due mainly to exemptions in the Wildlife Act, the cultural failure to take such crimes seriously and the ongoing lack of resourcing of the NPWS. Green Party leader Roderick O'Gorman said the Europe he wanted to see had more bees and fewer bombs. People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the State was not only failing to do enough to protect biodiversity, but was actually destroying it through the ongoing killing of badgers.
Agriland
28-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Minister: ‘September at the latest' for ACRES NPI payment system
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has said that it will be 'September at the latest' before the payments system for non-productive investments (NPIs) is ready under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). Under ACRES, farmers in the Co-operation Project (CP) section of the scheme can undertake NPIs to enhance their payments. NPIs are small-scale environmental actions available to farmers in the ACRES CP which support nature-friendly management of farms. NPIs are applied for on behalf of farmers by their ACRES advisor as part of a NPI – Annual Works Plan (AWP). According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, completing approved NPIs allows a farmer to add to their ACRES payment by up to a maximum of €17,500 over the five-year period of their contract. There has been two application windows for farmers to apply for NPIs; one in 2023 and one last year in 2024. However, the payments system to support the submission of claims and the processing of payments in respect of approved NPI applications is not yet in place. The department had already said that the system would be in place in 2025. Minister Heydon, speaking at the first meeting of the new Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which took place today (Wednesday, May 28), indicated a target of September for that system to be in place. He told Fine Gael Clare TD Joe Cooney: 'The great focus has been getting people their basic [ACRES] payment first and foremost, getting their problems resolved on that. 'On the NPI payments then, the officials are working through on his, but we are making progress on that side, and hope to have them resolved as soon as possible over the summer, or September at the latest, in terms of getting them resolved, and getting payments through on them,' Minister Heydon added. ACRES was one of the main topics that came up at today's committee meeting, the other top issues for TDs and senators being TB and the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Other topics that featured were the nitrates derogation, GAEC (Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition) 2; and the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement. This was the minister's first appearance at the Oireachtas agriculture committee in his role as the senior department minister. Minister Heydon's previous appearances at the committee, in its previous iteration before the general election last year, were in his then role as minister for state with responsibility for new market development, farm safety, and research and development. This was the first meeting of the current committee, post-general election, where it carried out its role of scrutinising the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the ministers responsible for it. As the first meeting, it had somewhat of an introductory tone, serving as a way for the committee to get off the ground for the new Dáil term and begin its formal engagement with the minister. One member of the committee, senator Victor Boyhan, said: '[Minister Heydon] indicated that he wanted a fresh start, a new relationship with agriculture, with stakeholders, and with us as committee members, so I think that's encouraging.'
