The Department of Agriculture expects in the region of 50,000 farms to participate in its flagship Agri-Environmental Climate Measure (AECM) from 2023 through to 2027.

The scheme will be open to all farmers and there are two entry routes for farmers.

These are being termed as the general entry route, whereby a farmer applies in his or her own right, and the co-operation entry route, which is discussed in detail on this page and applies to farmers joining as part of a team.

About 30,000 farmers are expected to participate through the general entry route. This route offers a maximum payment rate of €7,000 for farmers committing to greater environmental targets.

It is expected that the average payment rate will be in the region of €5,000 per participant.

The co-operation model, which targets 20,000 participants, has a higher potential maximum payment of €10,000 per holding. It is expected the average payment will be in the region of €7,000 per holding.

Scheme entry

The entry mechanisms for the co-operation model are also touched on in other sections on this page and the discussions surrounding the release of tenders has raised questions about how farmers will be able to apply to the general entry route.

Applications will be ranked based on the level of environmental benefit that their application is deemed to deliver.

There will be three tiers used to rank applications with Tier 1 applications pertaining to if the farm is judged to have priority environmental assets such as private natura lands, commonage, geese and swans or located in a priority water area.

Tier 2 relates to actions a farmer commits to do and the stocking rate on the farm. Such actions include minimum tillage, sowing of catch crops and planting winter bird food, which is similar to wild bird cover in GLAS.

The final tier contains more general actions such as low input grassland, multispecies leys and management of intensive grasslands to provide an enhanced environmental benefit.

All these actions will be covered in detail in the first week of our CAP series next week.