THOUSANDS of farmers across Galway and Mayo have received less than half of the maximum ACRES Co-operation payment for 2023 – nearly six-months into the second year of the scheme.

According to the IFA, delays in the scoring of land and an over-complicated scheme, has dented farmer confidence in ACRES – and has also left many participants under serious financial pressure.

Cáillín Conneely, IFA National Hill Farming Chair, told the Farming Tribune this week that the last thing farmers needed to hear about was a delay in payments due to ‘complications with the scheme’.

“We have a very high participation rate in ACRES Co-operation across Conamara and Mayo and other parts of the West of Ireland: farmers need to be paid the money that they’re entitled to.

“Some of these farmers have paid out up to €1,200 to have their plans drawn and now nearly half-way through year 2 of the scheme, they are still waiting for payments due to them for 2023. It’s simply not good enough,” said Cáillín Conneely.

Farmers in ACRES Co-operation (CP) can qualify for a maximum €7,000 annual ‘core payment’ and an additional €3,500 a year for NPIs (Non-Productive Investments) and LAs (Landscape Actions). However, as of this week, those farmers had only received an interim payment of €5,000 for 2023.

The Dept. of Agriculture has outlined three categories of NPIs which ACRES Co-operation farmers can apply for inclusion – Habitat and Wildlife Support; Infrastructure; and the Hand Tool Removal of Scrub.

Pictured: Cáillín Conneely: Crippling delay in ACRES payments.