Much of the political commentary regarding the new Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) has focused on the upper payment rates attainable with little detail as yet as to what exactly farmers have to do.

In this week's edition, SUAS project manager Declan Byrne gives an honest appraisal of the challenges faced by farmers and positive outcomes from the EU-funded agri-environment project. It is critical that learnings from such projects are considered in finalising the programme for ACRES.

Any scheme must be farmer-friendly and farmers must be under no illusion as to what exactly is expected of them to draw down funds.

Farmers need access to all technologies in emissions battle

Also this week, Barry Murphy reports from a gene-editing symposium in University College Cork. This technology can play a key role in increasing the production of safe food while reducing the environmental footprint.

The most recent development is a technique called CRISPR. It can be used by scientists to change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms. The advantage over traditional breeding is that changes are extremely targeted; it is possible to only mutate a small part of the genome. Also, it edits existing genes in the plant and does not require foreign DNA to be introduced. The result is accelerated breeding programmes that identify animals/plants with increased performance, disease-resistance and improved utilisation of key inputs.

It is critical that there is a strong farmer voice in the submissions to the public consultation on new genomic techniques – which closes on 22 July – to ensure these technologies are made available.