How was it for you? (From Gazette & Herald)

How was it for you?

THE National Farmers' Union has welcomed what it calls a "historic" deal to reform the Common Agricultural Policy.

But the NFU and other farm organisations have also expressed concerns.

The EU Agriculture Council agreed to break the link between support payments and production - known as "decoupling" - which supporters say will enable farmers to focus more clearly on the needs of the market.

However, NFU president Sir Ben Gill expressed concerns about some details of the reform: "Because so many options have been given to member states, we could end up with a patchwork of different policies operating across Europe which could lead to market distortions.

"The compromises give other countries options to maintain the link, at least in part, with production. We will ask the government for full decoupling in England. But if other member states don't do this, it could potentially distort the market."

Without vigilant policing, he said, "the reformers will be the losers. UK farming must be allowed to be competitive."

Country Land and Business Association (CLA) president Sir Edward Greenwell said: "This introduction of optional partial decoupling dilutes and delays (the) benefits. It also introduces a good deal of uncertainty about the fairness of a different policy operating around the EU.

"We expect and hope that the UK will reject the messy partial decoupling in the arable, beef and sheep sectors."

He added that "the short term position of both tenants and landlords, and all those who have bought or sold land since 2000, remains deeply uncertain. This uncertainty may not be removed until 2006."

Mr Greenwell told the annual meeting of the CLA Yorkshire branch that, while proposed agricultural reforms were generally welcomed, the CLA would continue to fight moves for subsidy payments being made to individuals rather than being linked to the land. He added that a year's delay in the review of the EU's common agricultural policy had blighted the lettings market, paralysed land sales, and led to widespread uncertainty at a time when farming was beginning to climb out of a trough after three difficult years.

The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) is delighted that the new decoupled payment entitlements can be transferred without land.

Speaking at the Royal Show, TFA national chairman Reg Haydon said: "The initial EU Commission proposals would have seen the new entitlements attached to land and, in our view, would have been a disaster for farm tenants. We could foresee the problems of milk quota starting all over again only ten times worse."

The TFA remains concerned about other aspects of the package, including the ability for some member states to retain product-specific subsidies and delay decoupling, and the uncertainty that still exists for those who have acquired land since the beginning of the base period.

DEFRA boss Margaret Beckett describes the agreement on CAP as "a massive achievement". She says it "sets a new course for agriculture in the EU, freeing farmers to farm the land instead of subsidies, reducing bureaucracy, shifting support towards a wider range of rural and environmental activities and placing us in a strong position in world trade talks later this year".

She pointed to the main elements as: breaking the link between subsidies and production in order to reconnect farmers to their markets, with "national envelopes"; a new single farm payment to "replace the plethora of existing schemes such as arable aid, suckler cow premium, slaughter premium, etc"; an earlier start to modulation, which applies across the EU, with a "greater switch of resources to rural development funds than was originally envisaged"; cross-compliance to make payments dependent on meeting standards in key areas such as the environment and animal health and welfare.

Implementation of the whole package has been delayed until 2005 and countries have the option of delaying until 2007.

The deal enables member states to completely decouple support payments in the arable, beef and sheep sectors and to start the process in milk.

Revisions to the market policy of the CAP include:

asymmetric price cuts in the milk sector: the intervention price for butter will be reduced by 25pc over four years, which is an additional price cut of 10pc compared to Agenda 2000; for skimmed milk powder a 15pc reduction over three years, as agreed in Agenda 2000, is retained;

reduction of the monthly increments in the cereals sector by half, the current intervention price will be maintained;

reforms in the rice, durum wheat, nuts, starch potatoes and dried fodder sectors.

Updated: 11:33 Wednesday, July 02, 2003