The 2025 deadline for farmers in the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) who wish to establish brassica fodder stubble is just around the corner.

The deadline for this ACRES action is July 31 each year.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine took to social media this week to provide a reminder of the closing date, saying that farmland birds, finches, and buntings can benefit from a brassica fodder crop during the winter.

#Deadlinereminder for establishing a fodder brassica or fodder root crop under #ACRES using non-inversion techniques (ploughing is not allowed) on a suitable field is 31 July. All requirements can be found here: https://t.co/VrMqcQjnqU pic.twitter.com/HpPpCxyZNk— Dept of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (@agriculture_ie) July 16, 2025

The department said that fodder brassica crop must be established using non-inversion techniques (meaning ploughing is not allowed) on a suitable field.

The aim of this ACRES action is, according to the scheme specifications, to provide winter foraging resources for farmland birds, including finches and buntings, among the weedy stubbles of a brassica fodder crop.

For livestock farmers, the measure provides a "cost-effective home-grown winter feed which reduces the reliance on imported concentrates".

The action is suitable for improved grassland and arable land only.

Some mandatory pre-checks must be carried out, including a 'desk check' to inform the locations where this action is not suitable.

These locations include designated sites, including special areas of conservation (SAC) and special protected areas (SPA), as well as grassland fields adjacent to a river SAC.

A field check must also be carried out to assess the suitability of the chosen parcel. If the field either holds semi-natural grassland or is identified as a field at moderate or high risk of surface run-off or soil erosion, then the brassica fodder stubble action cannot be selected.

The requirements of the action are as follows:

Establish a fodder brassica or fodder root crop using non-inversion techniques in a suitable field before July 31 each year. Certified seed must be used;
This action can only be selected on a full Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) parcel(s) in year 1. However, the entire area of the parcel does not have to be entered for the action. The LPIS selected must be marked on the map submitted. If you do not wish to deliver this action on the entire parcel, then you must enter the area to be delivered for each LPIS chosen;
The minimum area to be delivered is 0.5ha and the maximum area for payment is 10ha;
Mandatory non-cultivated vegetated buffers and lie back baseline requirements in GAEC 4 and GAEC 6 apply to this action;
No herbicides or insecticides are permitted once crop is sown;
The crop must be grazed, but only after 15 October. Make sure that grazing does not generate poaching or soil erosion;
Where a watercourse is present on or adjacent to the parcel, bovines are not permitted to access the watercourse. Where no natural barrier exists, the watercourse must be fenced at least 1.5m from the top of the bank when bovines are present (drinking points are not permitted);
Harvesting with machinery is not permitted;
After grazing, the stubble must be left undisturbed until March 1;
ACRES hedgerow requirements apply to this action;
This measure can be rotated each year once the area(s) sown is at least equal in size to the contract area(s) established in year one. The LPIS parcel(s) and area for this action must be declared each year of the contract on the participant’s BISS application. ACRES participants may change the location of this action to a parcel(s) other than what was declared for ACRES on their annual BISS application by giving advance notice to the department before the annual establishment deadline.