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Making an ACRES NPI application

11 October 2024
Type Media Article

John Enda Flannelly, ACRES Advisor, Teagasc Claremorris

Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) are actions that can be applied for in the Agri-Climate Rural Environmental Scheme (ACRES). These actions can be used by farmers to increase the payments they receive under the ACRES scheme. However, these actions are only available to those in the ACRES Co-Operation approach. Farmers in ACRES general can not avail of these actions.

Environmental issues should be identified on the farm and these NPI actions can be used to improve these environmental issues. These actions can also be used to help increase scorecard scores that farmers would have received when planners scored their land in the past two summers. As well as the payment for the NPI action, improved future field scores would also mean an increase in the core ACRES payment for farmers. NPIs are one-off payments and are subject to yearly limits, but you can make a number of NPI applications over the ACRES contract. 

These actions can be currently applied for with your local ACRES planner and the closing date to make an NPI application for this year is the 31st of October 2024.

There are 3 categories of NPIs to be made available to ACRES Co-operation participants.

  • Section 1 NPI Habitat and Wildlife Support
  • Section 2 NPI Infrastructure
  • Section 3 NPI Scrub/Track (Burren/Aran CP Zone only)

Within these categories there is many actions that can be applied for such as Bat Boxes, Bracken Strimming, Planting of Trees, Planting a Traditional Orchard, Riparian Margins along watercourses, Rodenticide Free Rodent Control, Repair of Traditional Stone Walls, Wild Bird Cover Plots, Fencing (including barbed wire, electric wire & sheep fencing), Installation of Gates, Solar Pumps and Water Troughs. This is not the complete list and there is many other actions that can be applied for and the full list can be found on the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine website. Farmers can apply for a variety of different actions with the one application.

Once these NPI actions are applied for, they are screened by the CP Team. Upon review they are either approved or rejected. They can be rejected for a number of reasons including posing a risk to the environment or an unsuitable location for the action submitted. NPIs must be newly created actions, therefore only NPI’s installed or established after the issue of approval will be eligible for payment. These actions must not be carried out until an NPI-AWP Approval letter is issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The Department of Agriculture, food and the Marine reserves the right to carry out inspections, monitoring and evaluation at reasonable times for NPIs on lands farmed by participants which can be after the ACRES contracts ends. Where actions require a new purchase and/or contractor, receipts from suppliers and contractors must be retained by the participant for the duration of the ACRES contract and for twelve months after the date of submission of any claim for payment.

Funding for NPIs

A maximum budget of €7,000 per year is available for the ACRES CP Core Payment.  An ACRES ‘Core Payment’ is the sum of all ACRES CP results-based payments plus ACRES General Action payments. An additional NPI and Landscape Action (LA) fund of €3,500 per annum is available over the 5 years of the contract. This means the total maximum budget for an ACRES CP participant over the 5-year contract is €52,500 or 5 years x €10,500. 

In many CP areas, farmers will struggle to reach this maximum budget due to farm size and low field scores due to improved grassland.  But they should check out the list of actions available and submit an NPI application now to try to improve the ACRES payment they will receive and in the process make environmental improvements to their farm.