ACRES General Tranche 2 Applicants receiving their approval letters

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D, has announced the latest step in the continued issuing of approval letters under Tranche 2 of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).

Making the announcement, the Minister said:

"I am delighted to confirm that approval letters for Tranche 2 ACRES general applicants have begun to issue. Approval letters for all valid applications will appear in farmers' AgFood accounts, with a text alert issuing to those signed up to receive them. Formal letters by post will follow shortly. In addition, I can confirm that formal letters started to issue at the end of last week, by post, to participants recently approved into the ACRES Co-operation Project approach."

Minister McConalogue added:

"All ACRES Tranche 2 participants will receive an approval summary within the coming weeks. This is an important document that sets out, by parcel, the actions for which participants have received approval. In addition, all participants will receive a Farmland Plant Identification Key. This full-colour booklet will assist farmers in identifying positive and negative grass and peatland indicators, and in assessing the condition of these lands. I have no doubt participants will find this publication useful."

The Minister reminded participants that have commonage, or have selected the Low-input Grassland or Low-input Peat Grassland actions, that they will have their lands scored by a CP Team, or their own advisor, respectively, over the coming months.

Notes for Editors

The EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) is a partnership between society and agriculture that ensures a stable supply of food, safeguards farmers' income, protects the environment and keeps rural areas vibrant. EU countries implement the CAP at national level with a CAP Strategic Plan for the period 2023 - 2027.

The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is the agri-environment climate measure under Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan for the period 2023 - 2027.

The Scheme is jointly funded by the European Union and the national exchequer.

There are two approaches within the Scheme:

• ACRES General, 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 prescription and result-based); and

• ACRES Co-operation, available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas.