Decision letters on applications submitted earlier this year for landscape actions (LAs) available under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) have started to issue, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has announced.

LAs are voluntary environmental actions which farmers in ACRES may apply for to receive funding towards their implementation, for example, invasive species management, encroaching scrub, threatened species and water quality.

If approved, the implementation of these actions should enhance the environmental status of the holding – and as a result – lead to an increase in the farmer’s results-based payments under ACRES.

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The second application window for the submission of landscape action applications opened on 11 February and will remain open until 28 May.

Time frame

“The decision letters being issued this week are, however, in respect of a batch of the applications submitted since February 2026 where there is a specific time frame in which the action should be undertaken,” the minister explained.

“The issue of the decisions for these time-sensitive actions is to enable the participants to undertake the relevant action at the earliest opportunity within the ideal time frame.

“All applications for landscape actions have to undergo environmental screening, so it is envisaged that decision letters will issue in the third quarter of this year in respect of the remaining applications submitted to date – plus those that may be submitted up to 28 May 2026.

“This phased issue of decisions on landscape actions applications will help maintain momentum in their implementation so that benefits can be derived as soon as possible.

“While the current Landscape Action application window will close on 28 May 2026, it is proposed that another application window for landscape actions will open later this year.

“I therefore again encourage farmers who are participating in the co-operation approach of ACRES to engage with their local ACRES Co-operation project team to identify the opportunities available to them in the form of landscape actions appropriate to their lands,” he said.

The third application window is expected to open in the third quarter of this year.