CLOSE on 200 farmers in the ACRES Co-operative (CP) scheme have received no payments at all since the start of the project nearly three years ago, according to the IFA.

A detailed submission from the IFA has now been made to the Dept. of Agriculture outlining ‘immediate changes’ they want made to the scheme to make it far more ‘user friendly’ for farmers.

The submissions deals with the main issues of contention in the ACRES scheme such as improved communication; transparency; and the scoring  of NPIs (non-productive investments).

However, Galway IFA Chair, Stephen Canavan, said that a Dept. of Agriculture review, currently under way, had to deliver real reforms to the scheme immediately, rather than just being ‘a paperwork exercise’.

“The ACRES scheme is over-complicated and it has a marking system which is way too severe, given that the farmers involved are doing absolutely everything that’s being asked of them.

“We want action taken now to put in place changes in the scheme which will simplify the conditions and requirements, with participating farmers getting the full payments that they are entitled to. The question has to be asked as to why so many farmers are pulling out of the scheme,” said Stephen Canavan.

IFA National Rural Development Chair John Curran has called on the Dept. to devote whatever resources that are necessary ‘to sort out the ACRES problems once and for all’. He said that while advance ACRES payments for Year 2 had started to issue last week – which was a positive move – many of the serious stumbling blocks with the scheme still remained in place.

“We are hearing from various quarters in recent days, including from ACRES CP Teams, that many farmers awaiting balancing payments – including those involving the Rare Breed action – won’t have their cases processed or paid until early 2025 at the earliest.

“Close on 200 farmers have received no payment at all – nearly three years into a five-year scheme – and at a time of elevated costs of production and farm margins on the floor.

“The Department needs to sort this out. It’s not acceptable or good enough to simply keep kicking the can down the road.  No other sector of society would put up with it – and farmers won’t either,” said John Curran.

He added that the fundamental problem with the ACRES scheme was that it was ‘overly complex and difficult to administer, with the financial return to farmers limited at best’.

Pictured: Galway IFA Chair, Stephen Canavan