The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has said that farmers will not tolerate any further delays on Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) payments.
The president of the farm organisation Sean McNamara has called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to ensure that all remaining payments under the scheme are issued in June, as promised.
“Minister McConalogue has stated that balancing payments will be made regularly throughout June, and this commitment must be honoured. Farmers will not accept any more excuses,” he said.
ACRES
In February, the minister announced that an interim payment would be made to ACRES tranche 1 participants who had not yet received their advance payments.
The interim payment rate stood at €4,000 for those in ACRES General and €5,000 for those in the ACRES Co-operation (CP) Project.
The announcement came as the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) was continuing to process payment claims for farmers in the scheme.
Sean McNamara said that the “prolonged saga of delayed ACRES payments has been ongoing for far too long, with promised payment dates repeatedly pushed back”.
“Farmers cannot be expected to do more and more on the environment if the department doesn’t have the necessary systems in place to pay farmers for the work they have done.
“ACRES is our flagship environmental scheme but leaving farmers financially stranded has left a very bad taste.
“No farmer should have to wait this long to receive any payment,” he said.
The ICSA president said that timely payments are not just a matter of financial fairness but also essential for the sustainability of many farming operations.
“Delays in payments can lead to significant cash flow problems and affect farmers’ ability to meet their financial obligations.
“This is particularly the case for low-income beef, sheep, and suckler sectors. It is imperative that Minister McConalogue follows through on his commitment this time and farmers receive what they are owed by the end of June,” he added.