ACRES assessment to continue using satellites
The Area Monitoring System will examine seven key ACRES actions in 2026.
Farmers participating in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) are being advised that satellite imagery will again be used in the assessment of activities.
The department has announced that it will again utilise the Area Monitoring System (AMS) to ensure that farmers in area-based schemes like ACRES are meeting eligibility requirements for 2026.
AMS is defined as the regular and systematic observation, tracking and assessment of agricultural activities and practices on agricultural areas using Copernicus Sentinel Satellite data.
AMS interprets Sentinel satellite imagery, which enables the department to determine agricultural activities on the 1.3 million declared land parcels in the country. Parcels monitored by the system will again have colour-coded results: Green, Yellow or Red.
Parcels flagged by AMS as green and yellow indicate a degree of confidence that the land details in the farmer’s application have been verified by AMS, and payments may be made.
A land parcel flagged by AMS as red, however, indicates an error which may result in a notification being issued to the applicant on their MyAgFood account, along with a request to submit geotagged photographs using Agrisnap™.
An error could include an ineligible crop sown to meet the requirements of a particular scheme, an incorrect crop declared on BISS, or the presence of an ineligible feature such as a roadway or residence.
The system may be complemented by follow-up checks on the ground by department inspectors to provide further clarification. If a farmer fails to respond to the AMS notification and submit an Agrisnap™, it may result in a delay to scheme payments.
AMS will be monitoring seven ACRES actions again in 2026. The purpose of this Technical Notice is to remind farmers of the ACRES actions to be monitored by AMS in 2026, some of which have key dates falling in March.
The seven key actions being monitored are as follows:
- Environmental management of arable fallow — establishment of catch crop before September 15, 2026.
- Extensively grazed pasture — Mowing events during the restricted period: March 15 to July 1, 2026.
- Riparian buffer zone (Arable) — The presence of grass crop and mowing events during restricted periods: March 1 to August 31, 2026.
- Riparian buffer zone (grassland) — Presence of a grass crop and mowing events during restricted periods: March 1 to August 31, 2026.
- Catch crops — Establishment of catch crop before September 15, 2025.
- Winter bird food — Establishment of winter bird food crop by May 15, 2026.
- Brassica fodder stubble — Establishment before July 31, 2026.
