# ACRES NPI deadline: the last window for Tranche 1 farms *Published 2026-09-12 by FarmAI Ireland* The 2026 ACRES Non-Productive Investment window closes on Wednesday 14 October. Only Co-operation farmers can apply, and your ACRES advisor has to submit it — you cannot do it yourself. If your contract started on 1 January 2023, this is the last NPI window you will get. One plan per farm, and it cannot be changed once it is sent. ## What is an NPI, in plain English? A Non-Productive Investment is a job DAFM pays you to do on your own ground because it helps the environment rather than your output. Fencing off a drain. Planting a hedge. Putting in a solar pump so cattle stop standing in a stream. They only exist on the Co-operation side of [ACRES](/schemes/acres). If you are in ACRES General, none of this applies to you, and Teagasc says so plainly. That is the first thing to check before you spend an evening on it. There are three categories: Habitat and Wildlife Support, Infrastructure, and Scrub/Track. The last one is Burren and Aran CP zone only. The full list runs from bat boxes and swift boxes to barbed wire, gates, water troughs, rainwater catchers and stone wall repair. ## Why does 14 October matter more for Tranche 1 farms? Tranche 1 contracts began on 1 January 2023 and expire on 31 December 2027. DAFM's 7 September notice says this window is the last chance those farmers get to apply for NPIs inside their contract. DAFM's wording is that this is the last opportunity to apply for NPIs during those contracts. There is no window flagged for 2027. Tranche 2 farmers have time yet, so the pressure on them is lower — but the money is the same money. The uptake is not theoretical. DAFM says just under €8.5 million has already been paid out on NPIs approved in the 2023 and 2024 windows. Applications went in for 4,800 farms in the 2024 window alone. ## What does an NPI actually add to your cheque? Two ways, and the second one is the one people miss. The direct one is the NPI payment itself. These are one-off payments per action, with limits on how many units you can claim in a year and across the contract. The indirect one is your field score. ACRES Co-operation pays on results — better ground scores higher, and scores higher means it pays more. Fix the thing that is dragging a field's score down and you lift the core payment for the rest of the contract. Minister Heydon made exactly that point when the window opened on 1 July. Teagasc's ACRES NPI guidance, as of October 2024, sets out the ceiling. A maximum of €7,000 a year for the ACRES Co-operation core payment, plus a separate €3,500 a year fund for NPIs and Landscape Actions. That is €10,500 a year, or €52,500 across a five-year contract. Teagasc is also honest that plenty of farms will never reach it — small acreage and improved grassland both cap what you can score. We are not putting per-action rates in here. Each NPI has its own rate, its own minimum, and its own caps per works plan and per contract. DAFM reissued the whole specification as [Version 2.2](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/f8e2ccf8/NPI_specifications_July_2026_2.pdf) in July 2026. Work off that document, or off your advisor's screen — not off a figure you saw in 2023. For the shape of the rest of the scheme, our [plain-English guide to what ACRES pays](/read/acres-2026-plain-english-guide-what-youre-entitled-to) covers the measures and the scoring. If your question is when the money lands rather than how much, that is [in the payment dates piece](/read/acres-payment-dates-2026-when-the-money-lands). ## The four things that cost people the money **Starting the work early.** Only actions installed or established after your approval letter issues are eligible for payment. Put the fence up in September and it is your fence, at your cost. Wait for the NPI-AWP approval letter. **Treating the application as amendable.** DAFM is explicit this year: the plan can be edited at draft stage only. Once your advisor submits it, that is it. So the conversation has to happen before the submit button, not after. **Assuming a second bite.** Only one NPI Annual Works Plan can be submitted per Co-operation participant in this window. It can hold several different actions, so bring the whole list to your advisor in one go. **Binning the receipts.** Some actions need a purchase or a contractor. Keep those receipts for the rest of the ACRES contract, and for twelve months after you submit any claim. Inspections can happen after the contract has ended. ## What to have ready before you ring your advisor Advisors are out scoring ground at this time of year, which is why DAFM moved the window a month earlier than 2025. Their October is going to be busy. Ten minutes of prep changes the call. 1. **Know your approach and tranche.** Co-operation or General, and did your contract start on 1 January 2023 or later. That decides whether this is urgent or routine. 2. **Walk the two or three fields with the worst scores.** Bring the reason each one scores badly — bare ground, scrub, a poached stream bank, no water source away from the drain. 3. **Match the problem to a category.** Water and fencing sit under Infrastructure. Hedges, trees, margins, boxes and bird cover sit under Habitat and Wildlife Support. 4. **Ask what you already used.** Some actions have a cap per works plan and a separate cap across the five years. Your advisor can see what you have drawn down. 5. **Ask what got rejected locally.** The Co-operation Project team in your zone screens every application and can reject on environmental risk or unsuitable location. Your advisor knows what that team has been sending back. 6. **Agree the list before it is submitted.** Draft stage is the only stage you can change it at. ## One other date from the same notice The ACRES Rare Breeds portal opened on Monday 7 September for the 2025 annual declaration. If that action is in your contract, DAFM is sending an SMS about it. You or your advisor can complete it. You need proof of membership of the relevant breed society and the identification documents and certificates for each registered animal. The minimum is 0.10 livestock units eligible for payment each year, and it is paid in arrears on the previous recording year's monthly average. ## Frequently asked questions **Can I apply for an ACRES NPI myself?** No. NPI Annual Works Plans are prepared and submitted by your ACRES advisor through the GLAM mapping system on MyAgfood. Your job is to decide what to ask for and to get that conversation done well before 14 October 2026. **What happens if I am in ACRES General?** Nothing here applies to you. Teagasc is direct about it — NPIs are available to the Co-operation approach only, and farmers in ACRES General cannot avail of these actions. Your ACRES payment is unaffected by the 14 October date. **Can I start the work now and claim afterwards?** No, and this is the expensive mistake. Only NPIs installed or established after the date on your approval letter are eligible. Anything done before that letter is at your own cost, even if the action is later approved. ## The bottom line If you are in ACRES Co-operation and your contract started in January 2023, ring your advisor this week rather than in October. It is the last ACRES NPI window on that contract, one plan only, and no edits once it goes. --- ## Sources - [DAFM — Update for participants on both approaches of ACRES (7 September 2026)](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/press-releases/update-for-participants-on-both-approaches-of-the-agri-climate-rural-environment-scheme-acres/) — The 14 October closing date, the one-plan-per-participant rule, the draft-stage-only amendment rule, and the Rare Breeds portal opening - [DAFM — Minister Heydon announces opening of the ACRES NPI application window (1 July 2026)](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/press-releases/minister-heydon-announces-opening-of-the-agri-climate-rural-environment-scheme-acres-non-productive-investments-npi-application-window/) — Fourth NPI window, opened 1 July 2026, and the €8.5 million paid to date on NPIs approved in the 2023 and 2024 windows - [DAFM — ACRES Co-operation Non-Productive Investments Specification, Version 2.2 (July 2026)](https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/f8e2ccf8/NPI_specifications_July_2026_2.pdf) — The current specification approved NPIs must be built to, published with the 2026 window - [Teagasc — Making an ACRES NPI application](https://teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/making-an-acres-npi-application/) — Teagasc ACRES advisor John Enda Flannelly on the €7,000 and €3,500 budget split, approval letters, rejection reasons and receipt retention - [DAFM — Overview of Non-Productive Investments for the ACRES Co-operation approach](https://assets.gov.ie/272782/897c6265-fbe0-4bbc-b2e2-37d28cd36fce.pdf) — The three NPI categories, the full action list, and which parcels each action can be selected on - [Teagasc — Apply now for ACRES Non-Productive Investments](https://teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/apply-now-for-acres-non-productive-investments/) — Confirmation that 4,800 farms applied in the 2024 window and that scoring improvements feed the core payment --- *Source: [FarmAI Ireland](https://farmai.ie/read/acres-npi-deadline-october-2026)*