McConalogue announces four-week extension of deadline for submission of ACRES Scorecards

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D, has announced a four-week extension to the closing date for submission of completed scorecards for results-based actions under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).

The new closing date will be Friday 29th September 2023 which will give advisors an additional four weeks to complete the submissions. for the scheme that many Tipperary farmers partake in. 

Announcing the extension, the Minister commented “ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan. It is addressing a range of climate, water and biodiversity objectives and the results-based approach is a key driver of the environmental ambition of the scheme. This approach also gives the farmer the opportunity to increase their payments over the lifetime of the scheme. Some 46,000 farmers are currently participating in ACRES with over 1 million hectares of lands in the Scheme.” 

“My Department together with the ACRES co-operation teams has already trained over 600 advisers on submitting scorecards and completed scorecards are being submitted to my Department daily. Just under 40% of all scorecards have been submitted already and this is testament to the commitment of the advisors and farmers to this task which is the first time the scoring of agricultural land has been carried out to such a scale.”  

The Minister added, “Given the importance of getting these baseline scores submitted in this first year of the scheme and acknowledging the extra workload it creates for advisors, I have decided to extend this deadline for the submission of completed ACRES scorecards by an additional four weeks. This will allow advisors to plan their work over their next eight weeks. It’s essential now that all advisors continue to engage with their ACRES clients and work to have the necessary scorecards completed as soon as possible.”

The Minister also announced significant funding to support the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) for investment in upskilling their members on the work of the ACRES scheme. 

The Minister added “As with many of my Department’s schemes, advisors are a key enabler in the implementation of ACRES. This investment in the ACA will allow them to work with their members and ensure they have the necessary resources to make the scheme a success.”