Farmers on peat soils will be offered the option of rewetting land in a new measure within the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) later this year.
According to the Irish Farmers Journal, the Government’s 2025 Climate Action Plan, published on Tuesday, states that rewetting actions will be introduced as an option in ACRES co-operation areas by September, in a bid to woo farmers into cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the land use sector.
The plan also targets autumn 2025 as the deadline for developing and funding schemes to further reduce emissions from the land use sector. This will be achieved through what the Government calls “reduced management intensity of grassland on drained organic soils” and “improved grassland management”.
The Climate Action Plan’s reference to new ACRES landscape actions comes as over 7,600 farmers still wait for payments for last year’s ACRES.
