Update for participants in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES)

The Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine wishes to advise farmers who are participating in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) that it will again be using the Area Monitoring System (AMS) to ensure that farmers in area-based schemes, one of which is ACRES, have met their eligibility requirements for 2026. AMS is defined as the regular and systematic observation, tracking and assessment of agricultural activities and practices on agricultural areas using Copernicus Sentinel Satellite data.

AMS interprets Sentinel satellite imagery which enables the Department to determine agricultural activities on the 1.3 million declared land parcels in the country. Parcels monitored by AMS will have colour coded results: Green, Yellow or Red. Parcels flagged by AMS as green and yellow indicate a degree of confidence that the land details in the farmer’s application have been verified by AMS and payments may be made. A land parcel flagged by AMS as red, however, indicates an error which may result in a notification being issued to the applicant on their MyAgFood account, https://myagfood-client.apps.services.agriculture.gov.ie/account, along with a request to submit geotagged photographs using Agrisnap™. An error could include an ineligible crop sown to meet the requirements of a particular scheme, an incorrect crop declared on BISS (different to what AMS has identified on the ground) or the presence of an ineligible feature such as a roadway or residence. AMS may be complemented with follow up checks on the ground by a Department Inspector to provide further clarification. Failure to respond to an AMS notification and to submit an Agrisnap™ may result in a delay to scheme payments.

Further information relating to AMS and replying to AMS notifications is available on the Department’s website at Area Monitoring System (AMS) (www.gov.ie), while information in relation to receipt of an AMS notification can be found under section 16 of the BISS Terms and Conditions for 2026 published on the Department’s website at Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) Scheme (www.gov.ie).

AMS will be monitoring seven ACRES actions again in 2026. The purpose of this Technical Notice is to remind farmers of the ACRES actions to be monitored by AMS in 2026, some of which have key dates falling in March, as follows:

The detailed requirements for the undertaking of the above Actions are available in the ACRES Specifications available on the Department’s website at ACRES Terms and Conditions, Specifications and Circulars (www.gov.ie).

Notes for Editors

• The EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) is a partnership between society and agriculture that ensures a stable supply of food, safeguards farmers’ income, protects the environment and keeps rural areas vibrant. EU countries implement the CAP 2023-27 with a CAP Strategic Plan at national level.
• The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is co-funded by the National Exchequer and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) of the European Union under Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027.
• ACRES is the agri-environment climate measure under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan for the period 2023-2027.
• There are two approaches within the Scheme:
• ACRES General, available nationally (outside of the high priority geographical area as defined for the ACRES Co-operation approach below), which offers a range of measures (both prescription and result-based); and
• ACRES Co-operation, available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas. Map in Annex 1 of the ACRES Terms and Conditions for both Tranches shows the 8 ACRES Co-operation zones, with an ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) Team in place in each zone to assist the participants. Participants in the ACRES Co-operation approach may apply for complementary environmental actions in the form of Non-Productive Investments and Landscape Actions.

Landscape Actions (LAs) available under ACRES Co-operation approach

• LAs are targeted measures that will focus on issues such as invasive species management, encroaching scrub, threatened species and water quality protection, thereby offering benefits to the local environment.
• These Landscape Actions have been designed to target environmental issues, which have been highlighted in the scorecards for results-based payments and are causing a reduction in the score achieved.
• The targeted implementation of these actions should improve the results-based score achieved on that field/commonage in coming years leading to an increased payment.

The final specifications are available on the Department’s website: 1._Landscape_Actions_Final_Specifications_V1.0_January_2026.pdf