The timeline for submitting plans under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) has been outlined by the Department of Agriculture at adviser training held in Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim and in Charleville, Co Cork.

The Department’s IT system, called the Generic Land Management System (GLAMS), for constructing plans will be available from August onwards but the option to submit an application and a farm sustainability plan will not go live until October 2022.

At this stage the Department expects the window for submitting plans to remain open for a four-to-six-week period, closing in early-to-mid-November.

Higher submissions

It is likely that there will be a higher number of plans submitted under this year’s intake tranche than places available.

In such a scenario plans will undergo a process of ranking and selection.

Details on how plans will be ranked and the scores attributed to different measures are not yet available and will be published as part of the draft terms and conditions which the Department says will be released in the coming weeks.

A number of advisers at the training days raised concerns about the possibility of disruptions to plans completed but not submitted if there is any significant upgrades or changes to the Department’s IT system.

The Department stated that they hope this will not be the case, with plans in place to have the system fully completed by its launch date.

Concerns

There are also concerns among advisers about the workload that will be required between the scheme opening and closing for applications in 2022.

Reports indicate that Teagasc is seeking approval from the Department of Agriculture for a significant increase in advisers.

The Department has moved to allay some of the workload ?of the workload concerns ?by stating that applications for the co-operation entry route will initially take the form of an expression of interest with the plan for these areas developed in line with the co-operation team and completed in 2023 for successful applicants.

There are 34,796 herd numbers located in the areas zoned for the co-operation entry ?route, with 20,000 places available.

?Fears that applications will not be approved for entry, even though farm sustainability plans are completed and submitted, to the scheme due to it being oversubscribed have added to advisor’s concerns.

This is likely to see some advisers prioritising applications which they know will have the best chance of gaining entry in 2022 and further delaying submitting other applications until the second intake tranche opens in quarter four of 2023.