Many farmers are worse off under ACRES than under GLAS.

INHFA President Vincent Roddy identified organic farmers and those farmers who had previously participated in various EIPs and local schemes as significant losers.

“Currently, organic farmers in cooperation areas will only receive ACRES payment if their habitat scores are eight or higher, and even then their payment is reduced – they receive €50 for a score of eight, €100 for a score of nine and 150 euros for 10 points,” he said.

“This compares to €300 for eight points if they were not in the OFS, a €350 rate for nine points, and for 10 points they are paid a €400 payout.”

Roddy said that while organic farmers in ACRES General can supplement their payments through a number of activities, for organic farmers in ACRES Co-operation these were limited last year because their payments are based on their habitat scores.

“While this may change as NPOs become available, some may not find these options to be suitable or financially beneficial.”

Roddy explained that under GLAS, which is action-based and easier to predict, it could provide a comfortable €5,000 for a farmer with 30ha, while the current ACRES scheme requires a farmer to achieve 10 points across all of their land ( which is extremely unlikely) to receive a payment of 4,500 euros.

“It is much more likely that a habitat score of seven or eight would earn that farmer a payout of up to €1,500,” Roddy said.

He also said that farmers who have participated in various EIPs and local schemes are currently only offered support through the ACRES programme.

“Previously, these schemes, outside the scope of GLAS participation, provided these farmers with the opportunity to receive financial support through GLAS and a specific EIP.

“However, these issues are only part of a wider range of issues that need to be addressed to try to restore farmer confidence in the ACRES scheme.”