The latest schemes payment update released by the Department of Agriculture shows €220,000 paid to farmers last week under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). This brings the total sum of money paid under ACRES to-date to €741.47m.

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon also released an extensive update on ACRES this week, including a more detailed breakdown in payments. He said that as of this week 96% of the 54,000 participating farmers have been paid their 2025 advance payment, with such payments totalling €222.6m.

This compares favourably to the rollout of payments in the 2024 scheme year, with 73% of 2024 advance payments completed at the corresponding time frame.

Environmental benefits

Minister Heydon heralded what he called Ireland’s flagship agri-environmental scheme, which covers 1.5m hectares or over 25% of Ireland’s agricultural area as “generating returns for the environment, biodiversity and climate and water quality objectives.

He said: “I consider that it is essential that the general public is made aware of the return the State is getting from that [€741m] level of investment. Farmers chose from a range of over 30 actions when they applied to enter ACRES, with all of the actions designed to deliver environmental, biodiversity, climate and water quality benefits, which will accumulate over the five years they are participating in the scheme.

“They have, for example, planted 24,500 hectares of catch crops on their lands, the purpose of which is to reduce nutrient leaching and help prevent soil erosion. Similarly, they have agreed to manage over 55,000 hectares of land to promote the production of an undisturbed foraging area to support overwintering geese and swans.

“Almost 7,000 hectares have also been set aside to provide a tailored food source for farmland birds throughout the autumn and winter seasons. The winter bird food crop has been specifically tailored to support the dietary habits of numerous farmland species and has proven to be effective in reversing declining bird populations across Europe.”

Hedgerows

The minister also outlined that over 2,300km of new hedgerows have been planted to date under ACRES, while there has also been extensive rejuvenation of existing hedgerows through the laying of 306km and the coppicing of 1,082km of hedgerow.

It was also highlighted that the planting of over a half a million trees is enhancing the visual appearance of farm landscapes. “Trees provide multiple other benefits such as supporting biodiversity, providing shade and shelter for livestock and helping to reduce soil erosion.”

Special mention was also made to the maintenance of 10,000km of traditional freestanding dry stonewalls, with their unique construction a feature that has been recognised by UNESCO.

“There will be significant environmental benefits accrued over the five years of the scheme. In addition to undertaking specific actions such as planting trees or hedgerows, or leaving buffers at watercourses, the environmental quality of over one million hectares of land has been assessed for the purposes of making results-based payments. The results-based payments under ACRES are designed to incentivise and reward farmers that deliver better environmental outcomes on their lands.”

Support payments

ACRES Co-operation participants were also reminded that support is available through non-productive investments (NPIs) and landscape actions (LAs), where farmers aim to deliver a higher level of environmental ambition.

“These [NPIs and LAs] are complementary environmental actions which farmers can undertake to enhance the environmental quality of their lands. I am pleased to note that over €3.6 million has been paid to 1,542 of those participants to date for the implementation of non-productive investments.”

Advisor training

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture has announced 2026 training details for advisers who wish to become an ACRES-approved advisor. While the scheme is closed for applications, approved ACRES advisors will continue to support participants throughout in a number of ways including;

  • The assessment and scoring of the lands for the making of results-based payments under the scheme;
  • Preparation and submission of applications for NPIs on behalf of participants in the ACRES Co-operation approach in accordance with the relevant specifications and;
  • Liaising with the ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) Teams to support farmers selecting Landscape Actions within the ACRES Co-operation areas.

    • Training will be provided by the Department in The Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise, Co Laois on Tuesday 17 February.

    Applications must be submitted by 5.30pm on Wednesday 4 February.

    Those interested in becoming a Farm Advisory System (FAS) advisor should note that training takes place on 16 February 2026.

    Anyone who would like to register for the FAS Training course can do so by emailing the section directly on FarmAdvisorySystem@agriculture.gov.ie. More information on www.agriculture.gov.ie.