Macra has said that many young and new farmers have been “left in limbo”, unable to undertake environmental actions on their farms.

This is after the Minister for Agriculture confirmed in a response to a farmer query that the ACRES scheme would not be opening for a third tranche of applications.

A total of €1.5bn has been allocated over the duration of the scheme and after 9,000 farmers were accepted into tranche two, almost 55,000 farmers had enrolled in the scheme since its inception.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Macra deputy CEO Derrie Dillion said these young farmers are unlucky to be starting their farms in the middle of a CAP cycle.

“Schemes are done in CAP cycles, if you come in at the start of the cycle; you will be fine but for those in the middle, they are stuck.

“The budget for the schemes has already been decided. It’s a flaw in the system and these farmers are left in limbo until 2027.”

Cycles

This cycle of this CAP strategic plan began in 2023 and Dillion said it is unlikely new farmers will be able to join any new initiatives until 2027.

Dillion added that said it does not expect the scheme to reopen due to budget constraints.

“I wouldn’t hold out for it [the scheme reopening]. The budget is at its absolute limit,” he said.

“It is something that goes into our reforms for the CAP every time, to stop farmers getting locked out. It doesn’t happen as much as it did before but it still happens.”

Environment

The Irish Farmers Journal spoke to young Co Waterford farmer, Micheál Ó Drisleáin, about how he can’t receive support for the environmental initiatives he wants to undertake.

Ó’Drisleáin completed his green certificate in June 2022, which meant he was too late to apply for tranche one of the ACRES scheme. Tranche two required farmers to have claimed entitlements in 2022 which he was also not eligible for.

He said if the scheme does not reopen, it will be five years before any young farmer will be able to apply for any schemes for biodiversity.

“They’re trying to encourage people into farming, this does the opposite because there’s no incentive now to carry out a lot of tasks,” he said.

“It’s a big chunk of money and for people starting out in farming, they can do a lot of positive things that can help. I want to plant trees and hedgerows, but I can’t do it because I can’t afford it.”