Farmers can draw down up to a maximum of €10,500 (including €3,500 for NPIs and landscape actions) under proposed payment rates for the ACRES scheme.
In its draft CAP Strategic Plan submission to the EU Commission, the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine outlined that there will be two separate ACRES measures as follows:
- General measure with a range of activities – both general and targeted – for farmers;
- Co-operation measure (farmers in defined high priority geographical areas, as per this news article on That’s Farming).
ACRES payment rates
The first would see a maximum payment of €7,311/farmer, while the cooperation measure would enable farmers to pocket a total of €10,500 (including €3,500 for NPIs and landscape actions).
The DAFM then published a set of general actions under the proposed scheme, and the payment rate for each.
Table 2: ACRES General (General Actions)
| Action (ACRES General) | Margin widths |
Per metre/year in € |
€ Per ha/year |
Per unit/year |
€ Per m³/year in € |
| Barn owl nest box | 36.48 | ||||
| Brassica fodder stubble |
120 |
||||
| Catch crops | 173.2 | ||||
| Conservation of rare breeds (per LU)1 | 200 | ||||
| Environmental management of arable fallow | 1047 | ||||
| Extensively grazed pasture | 200 | ||||
| Geese and swans | 205 | ||||
| Grass Margin arable | 3m | 0.38 | |||
| 4m | 0.51 | ||||
| 6m | 0.76 | ||||
| 8m | 1.01 | ||||
| Grass margin grassland | 2m | 1 | |||
| 3m | 1.1 | ||||
| 6m | 1.37 | ||||
| Coppicing of Hedgerows | 2.87 | ||||
| Laying of Hedgerow | 5.47 | ||||
| Low emissions slurry spreading | 1.20 | ||||
| Management of intensive grassland next to a watercourse | 502 | ||||
| Minimum tillage | 40 | ||||
| Planting a new hedgerow | 5.29 | ||||
| Planting a traditional orchard | 27 | ||||
| Planting trees in Riparian buffer zones | 3.18 | ||||
| Tree Planting | 6.21 | ||||
| Protection and maintenance of archaeological monuments- arable | 209 | ||||
| Protection and maintenance of archaeological monuments- grassland | 125 | ||||
| Over wintered stubble | 86 | ||||
| Riparian buffer strip – arable | |||||
Using a habitats-based approach, delivered through both “multi-functional” prescription and results-based actions, ACRES aims to contribute “significantly” to achieving improved climate, biodiversity, air, and water quality outcomes.
An underlying principle is the location of “the right action in the right place” to maximise and enhance the contribution of actions to these objectives.
Other articles on That’s Farming:
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