The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has advised farmers who are participating in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) that the assessment and scoring of land / parcels is underway, and the deadline for completion is August 31.

According to DAFM, non commonage land / parcels in ACRES which attract a results-based payment are currently being assessed and scored by ACRES advisors.

Scorecards were issued to ACRES advisors from June 3 2025, in respect of the land / parcels to be scored this year.

There are 10 scorecards used for the assessment of the land / parcels, on which results-based payments are made.

Seven of the scorecards are habitat-focused, while three are species-specific, such as chough, breeding wader and corncrake.

Advisors use one or more scorecards, relevant to the land being scored.

As this is the mid-point of the scoring period, the department is reminding advisors that completed scorecards should be returned within 14 days of initiating the first scorecard and before the last date for submission of scorecards, which is August 31.

It is essential that completed scorecards are submitted by the deadline to facilitate the timely issue of advance payments to participants for 2025 later this year.

Commonage land in the ACRES co-operation zones is also currently being assessed and scored, in the respective zones.

Meanwhile commonage in ACRES outside those co-operation zones is being assessed and scored by contractors engaged by DAFM.

According to DAFM the claims system for the submission of claims by an ACRES participant, or their advisor, in respect of the Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) is now open. Applications for payment should be submitted as soon as possible.

Finally, the Landscape Actions element of ACRES is open for applications for actions that will support farmers in the co-operation approach of the scheme to target specific environmental priorities.

These are large-scale environmental actions focusing on issues such as threatened species, water quality protection, invasive species management and encroaching scrub management in species-rich grassland.

The ACRES co-operation project (CP) teams will be engaging with farmers in their areas, and will be preparing applications on their behalf in the form of a Landscape Action Annual Works Plan.