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Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES)
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- 1. What the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is
- 2. Overview of ACRES Tranche 2
- 3. ACRES - Information for Advisors
- 4. The difference between ACRES General and ACRES Co-operation
- 5. How to qualify
- 6. What the ACRES Co-operation Project is
- 7. Mandatory actions farmers applying for ACRES General have to take to get Priority Tier 1
- 8. Mandatory actions farmers applying for ACRES General have to take to get Priority Tier 2
- 9. General actions Tier 3 applicants/all farmers can take in ACRES General
- 10. Rates of payment
- 11. Apply
- 12. ACRES Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- 13. ACRES Webinar Presentation
- 14. ACRES Advisors
- 15. Farmland Plant Identification Key - Species Guide
- 16. ACRES Terms and Conditions
- 17. ACRES - Terms and Conditions Tranche 2 - December 2023
- 18. ACRES Specification Document (including Barn Owl Nest Box Document)
- 19. FAQs for ACRES Specifications
- 20. ACRES Record Sheets Nov 2023
- 21. ACRES Circulars
- 22. ACRES Scorecards and Information General & Co-operation Approach
- 23. A description of the AgriSnap app, its use and where to download it
- 24. Non-Productive Investments
- 25. ACRES Privacy Notice
- 26. ACRES Tranche 1 Updates, Tranche 2 Overview and NPIs Introduction Training
- 27. Specification for ACRES Tranche 2 November 2023
- 28. FAQs ACRES Tranche 1 Payments and Tranche 2 Information
- 29. Contact
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 1 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.
Overview of proposed Agri - Climate Rural Environment Scheme - June 2022
This document gave an overview of the proposed ACRES as contained in Ireland’s draft CAP Strategic Plan (CSP). The information was based on the draft CAP Strategic Plan submitted to the European Commission by end 2021. Final information on the Scheme is available below in the Scheme Terms and Conditions and ACRES General Specification.
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Guidelines to obtaining Access to Online Systems including ACRES - Information for Agriculture Agents
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Circulars and other information for advisors is available at ACRES - Information for Advisors
General: 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.
Co-operation: 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.
Check out map of each of the zones and the teams who will manage them:
Image: ACRES Co-Operation zones
Both approaches require the preparation of a Farm Sustainability Plan to be completed and submitted by an ACRES advisor.
You may only apply for the ACRES General if your holding falls outside of the high priority geographical area as defined for the ACRES Co-operation approach.
You may only apply for the ACRES Co-operation approach if you have 3 hectares or more or 20% or more of your farm holding - whichever is the lower - declared as forage/habitat in the 2021 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) within ACRES Co-operation area.
Farmers can check the ACRES stream they are eligible for through agfood.ie, under the ‘ACRES Access Agreement’ button, or by texting us on 50124 with the message ‘DAFM ACRES’ followed by your herd number.
The ACRES General approach is open to all categories of active farmers eligible in the defined mapped area for ACRES General.
The ACRES Co-operation approach is open to all categories of active farmers eligible in the defined mapped area for ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) zones (shown as colour-coded zones on the map above).
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
If you are participating in other environmental schemes, you may apply for ACRES, but if approved you may have payments adjusted in either scheme to ensure no double funding takes place.
Please contact us if you have any doubts about compatibility of any scheme.
The eligibility requirements for Tranche 2 will be made available in advance of its opening for applications.
The ACRES Co-operation Project (ACRES CP) uses a qualitative approach whereby all forage land included in the scheme will be assessed using results-based score cards with incentives in place to increase scores and improve the landscape being farmed. More information on the ACRES Co-operation Project approach may be found in the document below.
More information on ACRES Co-Operation Project
More information on ACRES Co-Operation Project
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If you choose any one or more of the following actions, where relevant to your farm, your application will be considered for Tier 1.
If an applicant has at least 0.5 ha of land within the Natura (SAC/SPA) mapped area in 2021, they may be eligible for Tier 1 priority entry to the General scheme. To be considered for priority access, one of the actions a. or b. must be selected on an area intersecting the Natura mapped area.
a. Low input grassland
b. Extensively grazed pasture
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. To be considered for priority access, one of the actions a. b. or c. must be selected on an area intersecting the Natura mapped area.
a. Unharvested cereal headlands
b. Winter bird food
c. Environment management of arable fallow
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.
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.
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. To be considered for priority access, one of the actions a. b. or c. must be selected on an area intersecting the Breeding Wader Hotspot mapped area.
a. Low input grassland
b. Extensively grazed pasture
c. Environmental management of arable fallow
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. 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 High-Status objective 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
g. Extensively grazed pasture
h. Environmental management of arable fallow
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 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.
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.
(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
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)
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.
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
a. Tree planting (min 100 trees)
b. Planting trees in riparian buffer zones (min 10 trees)
c. Tree belts for ammonia capture from farmyards (min 0.18 ha)
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:
- barn owl nest box
- brassica fodder stubble
- catch crops
- commonage
- conservation of rare breeds
- coppicing of hedgerows
- environmental management of arable fallow
- extensively grazed pasture
- geese and swans
- grass margin arable
- grass margin grassland
- laying of hedgerows
- low emissions slurry spreading
- low input grassland (results-based)
- low input peat grassland (results-based)
- management of intensive grassland next to a watercourse
- minimum tillage
- planting a new hedgerow
- planting a traditional orchard
- planting trees in riparian buffer zones
- tree planting
- over winter stubble
- protection and maintenance of archaeological monuments- arable/grassland
- riparian buffer strip – arable
- riparian buffer strip – grassland
- riparian buffer zone – arable
- riparian buffer zone – grassland
- ryegrass seed set for birds
- traditional dry stone wall maintenance
- tree belts for ammonia capture from farmyards
- unharvested cereal headlands
- winter bird food plot
- winter bird food strip
Full list of actions and specifications for farmers in ACRES:
ACRES SPECIFICATION REVISED – NOVEMBER 2022
ACRES Specification document: Full details of the actions farmers must take and payments rate.
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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.
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 Measure | Farmer Payment (maximum) |
| General Measure | €7,311 |
| Cooperation Measure | €10,500 (including €3,500 for NPIs and Landscape Actions) |
| Action (ACRES General | Margin widths | €per metre/year | €per ha/year | €per unit/year | €per m³/year | ||||
| Barn owl nest box | 36.48 | ||||||||
| Brassica fodder stubble | 120 | ||||||||
| Catch crops | 173.2 | ||||||||
| Conservation of rare breeds (per LU)1 | 200 | ||||||||
| Environmental management of arable fallow | 1,047 | ||||||||
| Extensively grazed pasture | 250 | ||||||||
| Geese and swans | 205 | ||||||||
| Grass Margin arable | 3m | 0.38 | |||||||
| 4m | 0.51 | ||||||||
| 6m | 0.76 | ||||||||
| 8m | 1.01 | ||||||||
| Grass margin grassland | 2m | 1 | |||||||
| 3m | 1.1 | ||||||||
| 6m | 1.37 | ||||||||
| Coppicing of Hedgerows | 2.87 | ||||||||
| Laying of Hedgerow | 5.47 | ||||||||
| Low emissions slurry spreading | 1.20 | ||||||||
| Management of intensive grassland next to a watercourse | 502 | ||||||||
| Minimum tillage | 40 | ||||||||
| Planting a new hedgerow | 5.29 | ||||||||
| Planting a traditional orchard | 27.49 | ||||||||
| Planting trees in Riparian buffer zones | 3.18 | ||||||||
| Tree Planting | 6.21 | ||||||||
| Protection and maintenance of archaeological monuments- arable | 209 | ||||||||
| Protection and maintenance of archaeological monuments- grassland | 125 | ||||||||
| Over winter stubble | 86 | ||||||||
| Riparian buffer strip – arable | 3m | 0.38 | |||||||
| 4m | 0.51 | ||||||||
| 6m | 0.77 | ||||||||
| 8m | 1.02 | ||||||||
| Riparian buffer strip – grassland | 1.5m | 1.30 | |||||||
| 3m | 1.71 | ||||||||
| 6m | 2.11 | ||||||||
| Riparian buffer zone – arable | 1,242 | ||||||||
| Riparian buffer zone – grassland | 1,530 | ||||||||
| Ryegrass seed set for birds | 1.37 | ||||||||
| Traditional dry stone wall maintenance | 0.76 | ||||||||
| Tree belts to capture ammonia from farmyards (0.18 - 0.5 ha) (Max €2514/yr) | 5028 | ||||||||
| Unharvested cereal headlands | 12m | 1.26 | |||||||
| 21m | 2.20 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24m | 2.52 | ||||||||
| 30m | 3.15 | ||||||||
| Winter bird food plot | 1,000 | ||||||||
| Winter bird food strip | 6m | 0.98 | |||||||
| 8m | 1.31 |
Low Input Grassland 2 (ACRES General)
| Field Score | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | <4 |
| Payment rate per hectare | €400 | €375 | €350 | €325 | €300 | €275 | €250 | 0 |
Low Input Peat Grassland 2
| Field Score | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | <4 |
| Payment rate per hectare | €400 | €375 | €350 | €325 | €300 | €275 | €250 | 0 |
Grassland, Peatland, Scrubland – Results-based payment
| Field Score | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | <4 |
| Payment Rate | €400 | €350 | €300 | €250 | €205 | €175 | €150 | €0 |
| Reduced scale for farmers receiving OFS | €150 | €100 | €50 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 |
Commonage (ACRES General and ACRES Co-op)
| Field Score | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | <4 |
| Payment Rate | €220 | €180 | €145 | €115 | €90 | €70 | €60 | €0 |
| Commonage (<10ha) | €120/h |
1. Breeding females that produce a registered offspring above the basic eligibility requirements will be paid an additional payment of €75 per progeny registered up to overall maximum payment ceiling
2. Participants may apply for a late meadow bonus payment of €50/ha
3. Participation payment set at €50/ha on the first 20 hectares irrespective of results-based score. The results based payment rates are inclusive of this participation payment Commonage (<10ha) €120/ha
You must engage an approved ACRES Advisor to make an application on your behalf.
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 at the following link: Information on Agriculture Agents.
ACRES Questions and Answers for 18, 22 & 23 November 2022
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FARMLAND PLANT IDENTIFICATION KEY – SPECIES GUIDE Second Edition September 2023
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ACRES Terms and Conditions for Tranche 2 - December 2023
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ACRES SPECIFICATION REVISED – NOVEMBER 2022
ACRES Specification document: Full details of the actions farmers must take and payments rate.
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ACRES Circular 12 of 2024 - Amendments to the Terms and Conditions of ACRES -Tranche 1
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ACRES Circular 11 of 2024 - Exemption to spring requirement of Environmental Management of Arable Fallow for ACRES Tranche 1 and ACRES Tranche 2
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ACRES Circular 10 of 2024 - Extension to submission deadline for upload of soil sample results for ACRES Tranche 1
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ACRES Circular 9 of 2024 - Extension to planting date for New Hedgerow and Tree planting actions March 2024
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ACRES - Circular 8 of 2024 - Amendments to Tranche 1 Specifications for Catch Crops and Over Winter Stubble
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ACRES Circular 7 of 2024 - Further ACRES Update on Interim Payments
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ACRES Circular 6 of 2024 – Submission of ACRES Claim on BISS 2024
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ACRES Circular 5 of 2024 – ACRES Announcement of Interim Payments
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ACRES Circular 4 of 2024 – ACRES Training February 2024
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Circular 1 of 2024 – Requirement in Relation to ACRES Training
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ACRES Circular 31 of 2023 - Clarification on ACRES and Afforestation
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ACRES Circular 30 of 2023 - Tranche 2 Update (Application with No Mapped Actions)
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ACRES Circular 29 of 2023 - Tranche 2 Opening and Availability of Submission Button for FSP
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Circular 28 of 2023 ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) Application System Open
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ACRES Circular 27 of 2023 Removal of Irish Provenance and Irish Origin Requirement for Whitehorn
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ACRES Circular 26 of 2023 Reminder about LESS declarations and Submission of Scorecards
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ACRES Circular 25 of 2023 – ACRES Annual Declaration for Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) 2023
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ACRES Circular 23 of 2023 - Extension to Sowing Arable Actions
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ACRES Circular No. 21/2023 – Additional Training Courses for ACRES Advisors
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ACRES Circular No. 20/2023 –Change of Contract and Scorecards
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ACRES Circular No. 19/2023 – Deadline for Submission of Scorecards Reminder
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ACRES Circular No. 18 of 2023 – Extension of deadlines for certain actions
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ACRES Circular No. 17 of 2023 – Extension of Closing Date for submission of ACRES Scorecards
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ACRES Circular No. 16/2023 – Mandatory Scorecard Training
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ACRES Circular No.14 of 2023 – Amended ACRES Penalty Schedule
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ACRES Circular No.13/2023 – Availability of Late Meadow Bonus Payment Claim on AgriSnap
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ACRES Circular No. 10/2023 - Agent Application Form to register as a sub-contractor for the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES)
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ACRES Circular No. 9/2023 - Information for Advisors on ACRES Scorecard Training
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ACRES Circular No.8/2023 - Scorecards and Agri-Snap Update
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ACRES Circular No. 7/2023 - Information for Advisors on ACRES Scorecard Training
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ACRES Circular No. 6/2023 – Extension to establishment deadline for 2023 Winter Bird Food crop
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ACRES Circular No. 5/2023 - Amendment to ‘Environmental Management of Arable Fallow’ specification for 2023 only
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ACRES Circular No. 4 of 2023 –Amendment to Planting a New Hedgerow
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ACRES Circular No. 2/2023 – Application to become an approved ACRES advisor
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ACRES Circular No. 1/2023 – Amendments to ACRES Specifications
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ACRES Circular No. 14 – Points to Note Following Closing Date
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ACRES Circular No. 13 – Terms & Conditions and Specifications Document – Revised November 2022
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ACRES Circular No. 12 - Final Submission of ACRES Applications
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ACRES Circular No. 10 - Submission of ACRES Applications
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CIRCULAR 9 – Eligibility as Registered Organic Operator
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Circular 7 – Submission of AgriSnap Photos for ACRES Applications
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Acres Circular 5 2022 - Setting up as an ACRES Advisor
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Acres Circular 4 2022 - Training – Athlone 14 & 15 September 2022
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ACRES Circular 3 2022 - Farm Sustainability Plan (FSP) Portal now open - August 2022
Farm Sustainability Plan (FSP) Portal now open
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ACRES Circular 2 2022 - Training for Advisors April 2022
Training for Advisors
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ACRES Circular 1 2022 - Application to become an approved AECM advisor - April 2022
Application to become an approved AECM advisor
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ACRES Scorecards General & Co-operation Approach
These scorecards are for use in both ACRES General and Co-operation approaches, and may be used, where appropriate, on all lands in Co-operation Project areas, Commonage and for relevant ACRES General actions (namely, the Grassland scorecard is to be used for scoring of the ‘Low Input Grassland’ action and the Low Input Peat Grassland scorecard for the ‘Low Input Peat Grassland’ action, both of which fall within the ACRES General approach)
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Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) are actions that are available to participants in the Co-operation approach of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) to address environmental issues on the farm, directly contribute to environmental objectives or increase the farmers capacity to improve field scores through management.
ACRES Co-operation Non-Productive Investments Specification November 2023
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List of Non-Productive Investments for ACRES Co-operation
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Data Protection / Privacy Notices provide information to our customers about what happens to their personal data in this department. The Privacy Notice for the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) may be accessed at Data Protection Privacy Notices
Tranche 2 Application Procedure, Changes from Tranche 1
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FAQs ACRES Tranche 1 Payments and Tranche 2 Information
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ACRES
Address:
Johnstown Castle Estate, Wexford, Co. Wexford
, Y35 PN52
Email:
Phone number:
Summary:
ACRES Helpdesk
ACRES Co-Operation
Address:
Johnstown Castle Estate. Co. Wexford
, Y35 PN52
Email:
Phone number:
Summary:
ACRES Co-Operation contracts