New entrants to farming in 2023 who receive a new herd number and who have not submitted a Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application will not be eligible to join the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) scheme in 2023 and may be excluded entirely if there is no tranche in operation in 2024.

The news disseminated from adviser training for ACRES held this week by the Department of Agriculture and led to many young advisers at the event contacting Macra and the Irish Farmers Journal to raise their concerns.

The explanation given by Department personnel is that a key eligibility requirement to enter ACRES is the submission of a BPS application in the previous year.

This means that new entrants to farming in 2022 will not be eligible to join ACRES in 2022 as they do not possess a 2021 BPS application and as such must wait until the tranche the last quarter of 2023. New entrants in 2023 will not possess a BPS application for 2022 and therefore will not be eligible unless plans change and a new tranche is introduced for 2024.

The ruling does not concern a change in a name registered to a herd number. For example, a daughter or son who takes over the running of the farm in 2022 / 2023 will be eligible to apply as there is a BPS application associated with the herd number for the relevant years.

Macra has criticised the news and has sought a meeting with the Department of Agriculture on the issue.

National president, John Keane said: “A clear objective of CAP is to deliver on generational renewal. The Department of Agriculture by putting restrictive criteria on schemes that impact directly on new entrant young farmers totally flies in the face of this objective.

“Previously young farmers have demonstrated through investment their environmental ambition and any entry restrictions for young farmers to environmental schemes prevents them from demonstrating further and future commitment and ambition for the environment.”