Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has tasked his Department with examining the ACRES scheme and whether it could be reopened for new entrants.

Officials will examine whether the scheme can “be configured to allow access for new entrants throughout the period of Ireland’s current CAP Strategic Plan”, he said.

“As the scheme approaches the end of its second year, it is timely to review the experience to date, to identify what has worked well, and to consider areas where lessons can be learned for the future,” he said on Wednesday. He said he is aware that some farmers may have received lower payments than expected and that his Department will consider if the scheme can work better for farmers.

Meanwhile, at the Macra conference on Saturday in Co Kildare, he announced that it will now be possible to receive TAMS grant-aid for a second robot milking unit. Until now, only one robot milking unit could be grant-aided across TAMS II and TAMS III combined.

Macra will also be “central” to the working of the Commission on Generational Renewal put in place by the minister.

Generational renewal

The eight-strong commission, chaired by former Department secretary general Aidan O’Driscoll, also includes former Macra president Thomas Duffy.

The minister said they “will adopt an objective, evidence-based approach” to examining how to best encourage young people into farming. Earlier that day, he attended a farm walk on Thomas O’Connor’s farm in Moone. O’Connor has increased the number of cattle finished on the farm from 150 to over 800, with a beef output of almost 1,500kg/ha.

He also runs 500 ewes, growing maize, sugar beet and cover crops for grazing and forage. O’Connor told the minister he has maximised his farm capacity, but is threatened by ever-tightening margins.