The INHFA has seen an increasing number of farmers contacting their office with regards to delayed ACRES (Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme) payments. Speaking on this INHFA President Vincent Roddy outlined how “many farmers who have been in touch have not seen payments since the interim payment in February of last year and this has resulted in countless farmers seeing no further payment for 2024.”
Roddy detailed that “I.T issues within the Department of Agriculture are being cited as the main issue in processing payments but stressed the need for urgent action from the Department to get all outstanding payments made.” In addressing the I.T issues the INHFA President stated “how farmers are fed-up with excuses,” adding that “if the system is not capable of achieving this then the department must identify a way to manually process payments.”
The INHFA President continued by stating that “if this is the most effective way, then the necessary staff must be made available and we are calling on newly elected Minister Martin Heydon to ensure this happens.”
Moving beyond the payment debacle the farm leader pointed to another key aspect driving farmer frustration, that being actions under the ACRES scheme. “With many farmers still awaiting the go-ahead on actions applied for in Autumn 2023 under the Non Productive Investments (NPIs) as well as clarity on the LA’s (landscape actions) we are at the stage where there seems to be no element of the scheme that actually works.”
Roddy concluded by demanding results stating “that for over 2,000 farmers still awaiting balancing payments and many others still awaiting their first payment for 2024. ACRES hasn’t just failed them, but has left some farmers needing to take out loans to pay outstanding bills, ultimately causing undue stress whilst also having a negative impact on the mental health of the affected farmers.”