Payments under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) for year two of the scheme are currently running at €123.7m paid to 34,673 participants.

Responding to a query from the Irish Farmers Journal, the Department outlined that €123.7m in advance payments was paid to 28,294 participants on 22 November 2024. This equates to about 63% of the approximately 45,000 farmers participating in tranche one of the scheme.

A further €26.5m was paid to 6,379 farmers who joined ACRES through tranche two. This equates to about 70% of approximately 9,000 farmers in ACRES tranche two.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has previously stated that about 2,300 of these farmers joined via the co-operation entry route, with the remainder in ACRES general.

Farmers who joined in tranche two must complete a mandatory day’s training in year one of the scheme.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that there will be another payment run before the end of the year for both tranche one and tranche two participants, but a date has not yet been confirmed by the Department of Agriculture.