The application window for Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) available under the Co-operation approach of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is now open. NPIs are complementary environmental actions available to support ACRES Co-operation participants to enhance the sustainable management of their farms.
Making the announcement on the opening of the application process, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD said: “There are a wide range of complementary environmental actions which an ACRES Co-operation farmer may avail of under this element of ACRES.”
Encouraging all ACRES Co-operation participants to engage with their ACRES advisor to discuss the available NPIs, Minister Heydon noted that it’s an opportunity to “increase the environmental standard of their land and thereby attract a higher rate of payment through the resultant increase in the scoring of that land.”
This, the third window for ACRES Co-operation applications, Minister Heydon said: “The NPI application window is opening earlier this year which may give ACRES Co-operation farmers an opportunity to discuss possible NPIs with their ACRES advisor when the advisor is out on their farm assessing and scoring their lands, with the deadline for submission of applications being Friday, 17 October 2025.”
Last year, Minister Heydon noted, applications were submitted on behalf of 4,800 ACRES farms, adding: “Some of those NPIs have now been implemented on foot of the approvals issued in respect of 2023 and 2024 applications, and the NPI claims system is now open for the submission of claims.
“We will see the value of those NPIs in real terms from now and it is worthwhile for ACRES Co-operation farmers to explore with their ACRES advisor the options available to them in the form of NPIs.”