Farmers who wish to apply for the remaining 4,000 places left in ACRES can now submit an expression of interest on Ag Food, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue confirmed on Thursday 12 October.

Farmers can check online to see which approach - ACRES general or ACRES co-op - they are eligible for. However, the expression of interest must be submitted by their adviser.

While the scheme will officially open for applications in early November, the Department of Agriculture has advised farmers and their ACRES advisers to commence some of the associated preparatory work now.

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Steps

There will again be three steps in tranche two of the ACRES application process, as was the case with applications for tranche one of the scheme.

The access agreement facility for tranche two, which is the first step in the process, is now open and advisers can submit an expression of interest.

It must be completed by advisers in respect of each of their clients who wish to apply for ACRES, in advance of preparation of the required Farm Sustainability Plan (FSP).

The Department’s Generic Land Management System (GLAM) will then open in the next couple of weeks for the preparation of Farm Sustainability Plans.

This phased roll-out of the application process, according to the Department, gives a longer period of time for ACRES advisers to do their initial review, visit farms and consult with clients before finally submitting an ACRES application.

Ranking

In the event of a higher number of applications being received, a ranking and selection process will be applied based on the extent of the environmental benefit to be delivered.

Advance payments for those currently in tranche one of ACRES are being processed by the Department, with payments scheduled to commence towards the end of November.

"I have increased the allocation for ACRES by €40m, bringing the total scheme allocation to €20m – this is a substantial increase on the 2023 budget of €160m.

"The provision of additional funding will allow us to deliver on the Government’s commitment to have 50,000 farmers participating in ACRES, our flagship environmental programme under Ireland’s 2023-2027 CAP plan," the minister stated.

There was, he added, unprecedented demand for places in tranche one, and having ensured all 46,000 farmers could participate in that tranche, he said he is delighted to now open tranche two to a further 4,000 farmers.

The minister concluded by thanking farmers for their active engagement with the programme, and the ACRES advisers for their enormous efforts over recent months in scoring lands.