Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has all hands to the pump in his Department in an attempt to make sure 16,000 farmers who applied to ACRES will not be left out in the cold next year.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that Minister McConalogue and officials are pushing for solutions to the massive over-subscription to the agri-environment scheme.

There were 46,000 applications submitted for the scheme in 2023, with a financial budget allocated for just 30,000 in that year and 20,000 in 2024.

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It’s understood that Minister McConalogue believes the extra 16,000 farmers can be catered for in 2023, if the required additional funding is available – a decision that rests with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Besides the finance, there are significant logistical challenges to the 53% over-subscription.

The new scheme required a new IT system and this now has to integrate with the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) system, including all parcels being mapped.

It will also require a daunting amount of on-the-ground work by advisers on farm scorecards.

Nonetheless, the Minister is believed to be working with officials within his Department to examine what options are available to ensure that all successful applicants receive a payment in 2023, and in doing so, avoid any gap year in payments between farmers’ GLAS and REAP schemes ending and ACRES starting.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that additional funding could be secured for the extra 16,000 farmers, given that funds have already been ringfenced for the scheme under the CAP strategic fund 2023-2027. While this would require a higher national exchequer funding allocation, it would be seen as a coup for the Government to get all 46,000 farmers into ACRES next year. It is expected that tranche 2 would open as planned for 20,000 farmers in 2023.