Meadows mown under the low-input grassland (LIG) or low-input peat grassland (LIPG) actions in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) are eligible for a late meadow bonus payment of €50/ha.
There are a number of requirements which must be satisfied to receive this payment, including:
The entire LPIS parcel must be suitable for mowing and committed to the late meadow bonus payment if chosen. Meadows must be closed up, with no grazing or machinery operations taking place for at least six weeks prior to cutting. The earliest date meadows may be cut for hay/silage is 1 July and the latest date to qualify for the bonus payment is 31 August. A request will be sent to all LIG participants annually. If applicable in any year of contract, those cutting the whole parcel as a late meadow can make a claim by submitting a Geo-tagged photograph(s), via the AgriSnap App, giving a clear representation of the mown meadow. The photo must be submitted to the Department of Agriculture on the date of mowing or within five days of mowing activity (must be prior to significant grass re-growth).Farmers should speak with their advisers in advance of cutting, as scorecards may need to be completed, if not already done. Where scoring will take place at a later date, then a margin around the perimeter of the area will benefit the score.
AMS notifications
Farmers who received an Area Monitoring Scheme (AMS) notification at the end of June need to respond, if not already completed. The first round of AMS notifications relate to the presence of artificial surfaces, such as buildings, farmyard extensions and farm roadways in land parcels.
Farmers or their adviser have 14 days from the notification date to respond. Further rounds of AMS notifications will issue from July 2025 onwards.
SCEP weights
Participants in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme must remember to record the weights of cow and calf pairs before moving calves off the farm. Under the scheme participants must weigh at least 80% of eligible animals born on the holding of the yearly reference number in each scheme year and their dams and submit weights to ICBF.
Farmers should also note that they must calve down at least 50% of their reference number of cows each year to satisfy scheme requirements. It is also important to note in this regard that year three of the scheme runs from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 and, therefore, this is the period on which targets will be calculated.
Cows and calves must be weighed on the same day. Calves must be a minimum of 50 days of age at weighing, but the optimum timeframe identified for weighing by the ICBF is when the majority of calves are aged between 150 and 250 days of age (five to eight months of age). Where there is a split calving pattern in place then weighing should ideally be split to facilitate weighing at this timeframe. Weights should be submitted within seven days and no later than 1 November annually.
Meadows mown under the low-input grassland (LIG) or low-input peat grassland (LIPG) actions in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) are eligible for a late meadow bonus payment of €50/ha.
There are a number of requirements which must be satisfied to receive this payment, including:
The entire LPIS parcel must be suitable for mowing and committed to the late meadow bonus payment if chosen. Meadows must be closed up, with no grazing or machinery operations taking place for at least six weeks prior to cutting. The earliest date meadows may be cut for hay/silage is 1 July and the latest date to qualify for the bonus payment is 31 August. A request will be sent to all LIG participants annually. If applicable in any year of contract, those cutting the whole parcel as a late meadow can make a claim by submitting a Geo-tagged photograph(s), via the AgriSnap App, giving a clear representation of the mown meadow. The photo must be submitted to the Department of Agriculture on the date of mowing or within five days of mowing activity (must be prior to significant grass re-growth).Farmers should speak with their advisers in advance of cutting, as scorecards may need to be completed, if not already done. Where scoring will take place at a later date, then a margin around the perimeter of the area will benefit the score.
AMS notifications
Farmers who received an Area Monitoring Scheme (AMS) notification at the end of June need to respond, if not already completed. The first round of AMS notifications relate to the presence of artificial surfaces, such as buildings, farmyard extensions and farm roadways in land parcels.
Farmers or their adviser have 14 days from the notification date to respond. Further rounds of AMS notifications will issue from July 2025 onwards.
SCEP weights
Participants in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme must remember to record the weights of cow and calf pairs before moving calves off the farm. Under the scheme participants must weigh at least 80% of eligible animals born on the holding of the yearly reference number in each scheme year and their dams and submit weights to ICBF.
Farmers should also note that they must calve down at least 50% of their reference number of cows each year to satisfy scheme requirements. It is also important to note in this regard that year three of the scheme runs from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 and, therefore, this is the period on which targets will be calculated.
Cows and calves must be weighed on the same day. Calves must be a minimum of 50 days of age at weighing, but the optimum timeframe identified for weighing by the ICBF is when the majority of calves are aged between 150 and 250 days of age (five to eight months of age). Where there is a split calving pattern in place then weighing should ideally be split to facilitate weighing at this timeframe. Weights should be submitted within seven days and no later than 1 November annually.
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