ACRES is Ireland’s new agri-environment climate scheme under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan. This new €1.5 billion flagship agri-environment scheme is a farmer-friendly scheme to help address biodiversity decline while delivering an income support for up to 50,000 farm families in Ireland. The intake into ACRES (‘the Scheme’) will be phased, with at least two tranches. All valid applications submitted for Tranche 1 were accepted into the Scheme, with the 1 st of January 2023 being the commencement date of the contracts. The next step is that the successful applicants will receive an approval letter initially, with a more detailed summary approval to follow. The approval summary, which will show where actions have been mapped on the participant’s farm, will be posted to participants with a copy of the Farmland Plant Identification Guide, a booklet developed by the Department to help farmers in the scoring process. It is proposed that the ACRES system will open in the third quarter of 2023 for applications for Tranche 2 of the Scheme.
Both approaches require the preparation of a Farm Sustainability Plan to be completed and submitted by an ACRES advisor.
ACRES Co-operation is available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas, and involves results-based payments as well as bespoke farm and landscape actions. Contracts have been awarded for the management of Co-operation Projects (CP), and farmers will be supported by new teams who will develop local action plans for their zones. Map of each ACRES Co-operation zone and their corresponding Co-operation Projects (CP)
In quarter 1 and quarter 2 of year 1 (2023 for Tranche 1), for each approved ACRES CP participant, the CP Teams will assess all land parcels in the CP Zone that were declared in each ACRES CP applicant’s 2022 BPS and they will identify the land parcels/fields that are eligible to be scored using results-based scorecards and eligible to potentially receive results-based payments. ACRES Scorecards can be viewed here.
It is mandatory for each ACRES CP participant to include all owned forage land parcels as declared in 2022 BPS application in their ACRES contract
CP applicants may also include rented or leased forage parcels within the CP Zone for results-based payments once those parcels were claimed in the applicant’s 2022 BPS and will continue to be farmed and claimed in the applicant’s BISS application for each year of the ACRES contract.
A score card must be submitted by the applicant’s ACRES advisor in year 1 of the ACRES contract for each owned forage land parcel/field that has been identified by the CP Team to be scored and for each rented or leased land parcel/field that is being included in the ACRES contract. A score card must also be submitted for these parcels/fields in years 3 and 5 of the ACRES contract. Failure to submit score cards for all contract lands may result in penalties or exclusion from the scheme.
Payments for ACRES CP participants will be prioritised in the following order:
ACRES Co-operation – Rates of Payment
Co-operation offers a maximum of €10,500 a year with a maximum results-based payment of €7,000 with an extra non-productive investment and landscape maximum of €3,500. The level of payment will be determined by results-based scorecards, non-productive investments, and landscape actions, which will be designed for land-types and region.ACRES scorecards can be viewed here.
Acres General is available nationally (outside of the high priority geographical area defined for the ACRES Co-operation approach) and offers a range of actions for individual farmers, both targeted and general.
You may only apply for ACRES General if your holding falls outside of the high priority geographical area as defined for the ACRES Co-operation approach.
What actions are needed in the Acres General to get Priority Tier 1?
If you choose any one or more of the following actions below, where relevant to your farm, your application will be considered for Tier 1.
Acres scorecards can be viewed here.
Private Natura Sites Grassland
If an applicant has at least 0.5ha of land within the Natura (SAC/SPA) mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme. One of the actions a. or b. must be selected on an area intersecting the Natura mapped area to be considered.
Private Natura Sites Tillage
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within Natura (SAC/SPA) mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme. One of the actions a. b. or c. must be selected on an area intersecting the Natura mapped area to be considered.
Commonage
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of commonage land declared on the 2021 BPS, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme.
Geese and Swans
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the Geese and Swan mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme if they select the Geese and Swans action.
Breeding Waders
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the Breeding Wader hotspot mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme. One of the actions a. b. or c. must be selected on an area intersecting the Breeding Wader Hotspot mapped area to be considered.
Catchments identified as having High Status Water objectives
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the High-Status Water objective mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme. At least one of the actions a. to h. (which are deemed appropriate as identified in the Farm Sustainability Plan) must be selected on an area intersecting the High-Status objective mapped area to be considered.
a. Riparian buffer strips or zones – grassland
b. Riparian buffer strips or zones – arable
c. Management of intensive grassland next to watercourse
d. Planting trees in riparian buffer zones
e. Planting new hedgerow
f. Low input grassland
g. Extensively grazed pasture
h. Environmental management of arable fallow
Conservation of Rare Breeds
If an applicant selects Conservation of Rare Breeds action and shows proof of membership of breed society at the time of application, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme.
Organic Farmers
Organic Farmers can apply for the ACRES General approach under Tier 1 provided they are registered with and approved as an organic operator by one of the Organic Control Bodies
What actions are needed in the Acres General to get Priority Tier 2?
If the Tier 1 actions are not relevant, but you choose any one or more of the following actions as appropriate to your farm, your application will be considered for Tier 2.
ACRES scorecards can be viewed here.
1. Vulnerable Water Area
The vulnerable areas are defined as catchment areas to waterbodies identified as Areas for Action which have significant agricultural pressures.)
If a participant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the Vulnerable Water mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 2 priority entry to the General scheme.
To be considered for priority access, at least one of the actions a. to h. (which are deemed appropriate as identified in the Farm Sustainability Plan) must be selected on an area intersecting the Vulnerable Water mapped area.
a. Riparian buffer strips or zones – grassland
b. Riparian buffer strips or zones – arable
c. Management of intensive grassland next to watercourse
d. Planting trees in riparian buffer zones
e. Planting new hedgerow
f. Low input grassland (results-based)
g. Extensively grazed pasture
h. Environmental management of arable fallow
2. Holdings that have a whole farm stocking rate exceeding 130kg livestock manure Nitrogen per hectare (NPH) or holdings with over 30 hectares of arable crops in 2021
If an applicant (whether beef, dairy or sheep) has a whole farm stocking rate exceeding 130 kg livestock manure (NPH) in 2021 or has greater than 30 hectares of arable crops in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 2 priority entry to the General scheme. To be considered for Tier 2 priority access, at least one of the listed actions a. to f. must be selected.
a. Minimum tillage (min 10ha)
b. Catch crops (min 6ha)
c. Over winter stubble (min 4ha)
d. Grass margins arable (min 500m)
e. Grass margins grassland (min 500m)
f. Low input peat grassland (min 0.5ha)
3. Native Woodland Establishment scheme or Agro-forestry scheme
If an applicant is a participant in the Native Woodland Establishment Scheme or Agroforestry GPC 11 at the time of application, they may be eligible for Tier 2 priority entry to the General scheme.
4. Tree Planting
If an applicant adopts at least one of the tree planting actions a. to c., they may be eligible for Tier 2 priority entry to the General scheme.
What actions are needed in the Acres General to get Priority Tier 3
If the Tier 1 actions are not relevant to your farm, and you do not wish to carry out the Tier 2 actions, you may choose any of the following actions and be considered for Tier 3. All potential Tier 1 and Tier 2 applicants can also choose to carry out General actions, where appropriate.
ACRES scorecards can be viewed here.
ACRES General – Rates of Payment
ACRES General offers a maximum of €7,311 a year. The level of payment a farmer may achieve will be determined by the payment rates for the actions selected and undertaken satisfactorily.
Farmers can check the ACRES stream they are eligible for through agfood.ie , under the ‘ACRES Access Agreement’ button, or by texting on 50124 with the message ‘DAFM ACRES’ followed by your herd number.
To be eligible to participate in Tranche 1, an applicant must:
• Be aged 18 years or over on date of submission of the application.
• Be the holder of an active business identity. Herd ‘owner’ status is required. ‘Herd Keeper’ is not acceptable.
• Have all lands farmed declared in the applicant’s name on the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS).
• Have submitted a valid BPS 2021 application.
• All lands brought into the scheme must be declared in the applicant’s 2022 BPS and declared on the applicant’s Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme application for all subsequent years of participation.
ACRES Specifications and Payment Rates Information Booklet
To see the full list of actions and specifications for farmers in ACRES as well as payment rates please click here.
How to Apply
You must engage an approved ACRES Advisor to make an application on your behalf. For the full list of approved ACRES advisors please click here.
You can use your existing BPS advisor or engage another qualified advisor if you wish.
Information on Agriculture Agents and what you need to do to engage one can be found here: Information on Agriculture Agents
Terms and Conditions
For the full ACRES Terms and Conditions please click here.
Irish Farmers Association
Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell,
Dublin 12, Ireland,
EIRCODE D12 YXW5
