ACRES: 8,636 outstanding balancing payments

There are currently 8,636 balancing payments still to be processed under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). The figure was contained in a scheme update released last week by the Department of Agriculture.

The note outlined issues delaying the processing of these payments, which include the following:

The ACRES section outlined that scheme payment runs planned for 3 September and 17 September will now take place following Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) payments, which are due to commence on 18 September. There is also a further ACRES pay run planned to follow at the end of September and the Department expects that at this point in time it will have processed balancing payments for 95% (approximately 42,794) of all ACRES participants.

It expects that there will inevitably be a cohort (remaining 5%, or approximately 2,252 participants) who “cannot be paid because of outstanding issues which, in many cases, will have to be resolved by participants themselves”.

Payment progress

The information note also outlined a detailed synopsis of payment progress to date. Advance payments to ACRES General participants totalling €88.356m were paid to 19,719 participants from December 2023 to February 2024. This was followed by interim payments totalling €119.5m in February and March 2024 and these were processed to 25,061 ACRES General (€4,000/farmer) and Co-operation (€5,000/farmer) participants who had not at that point received an advance payment.

It says that by mid-March, virtually all ACRES participants had received a payment, with total funds paid standing at €207.9m. Balancing payments commenced to ACRES General participants who had previously received an advance payment, and to participants who had received an interim payment on 19 June 2024.

Payments have continued on a fortnightly basis since. As of 20 August 2024, a total of 36,410 participants (23,127 General and 13,283 Co-operation) had been paid a further €33m, bringing the total amount paid to €241m.

Payment analysis

The Department’s payment analysis states that the average balancing payment sanctioned to farmers whose interim payment did not exceed their total ACRES payment has been approximately €1,730/participant (General €2,136 and Co-operation €1,570). This, the Department says, was paid to 60% (10,400) of participants who received an interim payment.

It says that where farmers received an interim payment which exceeded their total ACRES payment due for 2023, the average overpayment calculated to date has been approximately €1,741 (General €1,208 and Co-operation €1,850). Overpayments have been made to 6,975 (1,191 General and 5,784 Co-operation) interim payment recipients to-date, representing 40% of all participants which received an interim payment.

Table 1 gives a detailed summary of the level of overpayments, broken down by the sum of money that is being recouped. The Department reports that as of 30 August 860 participants had advised that they wished to avail of the option to defer recoupment of the next ACRES payment, with a small number reported as requesting specific arrangements.

It says that further instances of overpayments will arise as remaining payments are processed and that similar recoupment of money will be facilitated. Of the 36,410 farmers who have received their full payment to date, the average total payment for ACRES General participants has been €5,200 and the average total core payment for those in the Co-operation stream has been €5,100.

Withdrawals and advance payments

A total of 1,558 farmers from the 56,086 who applied over the two tranches of ACRES have withdrawn to date. This equates to a withdrawal rate of 2.8%, which is detailed in Table 2.

The Department outlined that advance payments for 2024 are scheduled to commence by the end of November, in respect of more than 54,500 tranche 1 and tranche 2 participants.

NPIs and landscape actions

ACRES Co-operation participants have an opportunity to draw down additional payments of up to €17,500 above the core annual payment of €7,000 or maximum payment of €35,000 over the duration of the scheme via Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) and Landscape Actions. The Department explains that the €17,500 fund for NPIs and Landscape Actions can be topped up with unused funding from the core budget.

Unfortunately, the sanctioning of NPIs has also been delayed, with the latest update informing participants that approvals for applications received at the end of 2023 will not issue until the end of 2024. The Department says it regrets the delays in issuing approvals to 4,300 participants and is aiming to have the system to support the submission of claims and processing of payments “as early as possible in 2025”.

“A second NPI application window will open on 17 September 2024 and run until end-October, and it is intended that approvals will issue in spring 2025, after the screening of applications has been completed by Co-operation Project (CP) Teams and the Department. Further details in this regard will be announced shortly”.

Regarding the introduction of landscape actions, it says that preparatory work is ongoing and rollout is estimated to take place in quarter two to quarter three of 2025, with further updates provided as “elements are progressed”.

The information note states that “in the meantime, work is also ongoing on the preparation of the Landscape (High Achievement) Bonus payment, which will enable farmers to be rewarded for high average scores across their private land within CP zones, or where they have a large area of land within the CP zone.

“This bonus payment will be backdated/applied to the full period of participation in the ACRES. Further information will be communicated on this shortly, ahead of its introduction in 2025”.