Farmers participating in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme and other area-based schemes are being reminded that the Area Monitoring System (AMS) is being used again in 2026 to ensure participants have met their eligibility requirements.

AMS is often referred to as the ‘eye in the sky’ with the system interpreting Sentinel satellite imagery which enables the Department to determine agricultural activity on approximately 1.3m declared land parcels in the country.

It is defined as “the regular and systematic observation, tracking and assessment of agricultural activities and practices on agricultural areas using Copernicus Sentinel Satellite data”.

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Parcels monitored will have colour-coded results – green, yellow or red. Parcels flagged by AMS as green and yellow indicate a “degree of confidence that the land details in a farmer’s application have been verified by AMS and payments can be made”. A land parcel flagged by AMS as red, however, indicates an error which “may result in a notification being issued to the applicant on their MyAgFood account”.

Common errors

The Department lists typical errors identified as including an ineligible crop sown to meet the requirements of a particular scheme, an incorrect crop declared on the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) application or the presence of ineligible features. Such features being flagged may trigger a request for geotagged photos using the Department’s Agrisnap™ facility or follow-up checks on the ground by a Department inspector to provide further clarification.

ACRES actions

As mentioned already, AMS will be monitoring seven ACRES actions in 2026. The Department explains that the purpose of publishing a technical note on AMS this week is due to the fact that some of the key dates for these actions fall in March. Table 1 details the seven relevant actions and what metrics AMS is checking for.

Landscape Actions

The Department also reminded farmers that an application window for the submission of landscape actions (LAs) for farmers in the ACRES Co-operation entry route is currently open. The closing date has not been announced yet and the Department advises that it will be confirmed in due course.

It states that “LAs are targeted measures that will focus on issues such as invasive species management, encroaching scrub, threatened species and water quality protection, thereby offering benefits to the local environment”.

It adds: “These Landscape Actions have been designed to target environmental issues, which have been highlighted in the scorecards for results-based payments and are causing a reduction in the score achieved.

“The targeted implementation of these actions should improve the results-based score achieved on that field/commonage in coming years leading to an increased payment. The final specifications are available on the Department’s website: 1._Landscape_Actions_Final_Specifications_V1.0_January_2026.pdf.”