*Photograph: Natasha Barton
LONG-TERM environmental improvement will be delivered through a payment package to farmers, a Clare Senator has said.
Announced in June by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue (FF), the €1.5bn Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is to target a total of 50,000 farm families. It was proposed as part of Ireland’s draft CAP Strategic Plan (CSP).
Minister McConalogue has stressed that approval for Ireland’s draft CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) is still awaited from the EU Commission so all the proposals may be subject to change.
It is proposed that, like GLAS, all farmers will have the opportunity to apply for ACRES. There are, however, two entry approaches in the proposed new scheme namely, an ACRES General approach, 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 targeted and general); and an ACRES Co-operation approach, available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas. Eight areas in the country have been defined by a cross departmental working group as having particular environmental characteristics and farmers in those areas may engage in the new AECM through cooperation project teams
All farmers who apply under the Basic Payment Scheme will have the opportunity to apply for ACRES with both approaches offering attractive rates of payments, with the approach for which they are eligible determined by the location of their land.
Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) was confident the scheme would address biodiversity decline. “I’m delighted to see this new package for farmers which will allow them to receive qualitative payments depending on assessments of environmental improvements on their farmland. ACRES will address biodiversity decline while delivering important income support for up to 50,000 farm families through what is the largest amount of money ever committed by a Government to a single agri-environmental scheme.
“Under the scheme farm families across Clare will be supported to directly deliver positive results in terms of climate, biodiversity and water quality. The farming community in Clare are committed to their role in protecting biodiversity and it’s important they are rewarded for their commitment to the environment,” Senator Dooley added.
