Farmers who are to experience a clawback on interim Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) monies need to contact the Department of Agriculture on repayment arrangements immediately if they have not done so, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has said.

IFA rural development chair John Curran said a repayment plan for ACRES overpayment needs to be made sooner rather than later to avoid Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) payments being affected in mid-September.

“Any farmer that needs to make interim payments should talk to the Department today - or certainly before the end of the week - so they can avail of the maximum options available, including repaying when suits without causing further cashflow pressure on farm.

“For those with deductions or arrangements in place, we also got assurances that the recoupment of interim payments will in no way impact the timing of ANC payments in mid-September,” he added.

The IFA said approximately 7,000 farmers were overpaid on the interim payments received, averaging €1,741, with over 1,000 having repaid already or have agreed repayment arrangements in place.

Delays

Speaking on delays to scheme payments and approvals, IFA deputy president Alice Doyle called out the need for the Department to deliver on deadlines and commitments made to farmers.

Doyle said a meeting with senior Department of Agriculture officials in Johnstown Castle last week focused predominantly on the persistent challenges with ACRES and the Targeted Agricultural Mechanisation Scheme (TAMS).

“There needs to be better engagement and dialogue with farmers. The Department has to be more solutions-focused and not simply explaining their way out of it.

“When we hear of the administrative headache involved with ACRES, with up to 42 or 43 checks before payment, there has to be a simpler way. We need to learn from the lessons of the past year and ensure they aren’t repeated,” she added.

NPIs

IFA hill farming chair Cáillin Conneely said the average ACRES payment in year one was only €5,100 - well below half of what was promised.

He also commented that non-productive investments (NPIs) or landscape actions (LA) "aren’t even on the pitch yet", almost three years into a five-year scheme.

“The Department and co-operation (CP) teams have serious questions to answer here, on the low scoring, the lack of consultation, the impact of including a 100m buffer around turbary activity and why NPI/LA aren’t yet functioning.

“We got assurances and commitments from the Department that the ACRES CP teams have meetings lined up in the coming weeks.

"I’d encourage farmers to engage and attend these meetings to get clarity on current standings and what can be done to increase payments in the years to come,” he said.

“NPI approvals will commence at the end of this year and a second window will open for NPI applications in mid-September,” he added.

TAMS

On TAMS, IFA environment chair John Murphy said that close to 90% of TAMS III year-one applications have been approved and payments are flowing, with the exception of the Women Capital Investment Scheme (WCIS).

Murphy added that the IFA got assurances that payments under the WCIS will commence by the end of September, that the overall TAMS budget isn’t an issue in the short-term and that with a return to more traditional three-month tranches, valid applications should receive decisions within a month of closing.

“Given time constraints and the need to preserve and improve water quality, the whole TAMS process surrounding nutrient storage applications needs to be expedited, applications exempt from any rank/selection and reference costs and ceilings updated to better account for inflationary pressures.

“We got assurances that this can be done, and that reference costs would be reviewed next year,” he said.

Many lower-stocked and smaller-scale farmers will need to use low emissions slurry spreading (LESS) from 1 January, yet the Department is grant-aiding the trailing shoe only, discounting the dribble bar, Murphy added.

“If it costs less, suits more farmer and is safer for many, while delivering emission reductions, then it should qualify. It’s only logical and we will continue to lobby on [that],” he said.