THERE wasn't a

spare seat at a Worcestershire farm last week as farmers crowded in to hear how the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy will affect them.

Shires Farm, Hawford, near Claines, was the latest stop for the Country Landowners' Associaion roadshow, which has been touring the country to give expert guidance on the momentous changes that are imminent for every farm business.

The farmers who attended have had to come to terms with the complete rethink of farm support, from incentive payments on their food production in crops and livestock to a single annual farm payment, no longer dependent on what they produce, but conditional on their farmland and the environment being maintained in good condition.

"February 12, when Margaret Beckett announced the reform proposals for England, marks a watershed for the farming industry and particularly in the intensive livestock sectors, said Frances Beatty, CLA's regional director for the West Midlands.

"Dairy and beef producers, together with their allied trades, will be badly affected as a result of the Government's choice of systems.

"Their decision to move from a predominantly historic basis for livestock and crop producers to a flat rate for all sectors is a step too far and could be the nail in the coffin of many who are already reeling from low prices."

The main speakers at Hawford, Nick Way, CLA director of policy and advisory Sservices, and Laura Coode, CLA legal adviser, helped to clear away much of the fog of uncertainty about the reform package.

After the general discussion they also dealt with many individual queries and members of Bruton Knowles Property Assets Consultancy were also in attendance.

But, with Defra still not committed on some grey areas of detail, the whole package cannot yet be set out in black and white. The CLA chief economist, Professor Allan Buckwell, played a leading role in CAP reform negotiations at national and international level and he continues to press for improvements on details yet to be finalised.

There are to be separate single farm payment arrangements for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This will inevitably cause complications for landowners and occupiers with land on both sides of the border.

Nick Way outlined the new regime for England with the single farm payment, starting in 2005, made up of two components - a farmland acreage payment and an historic payment based on production subsidies received for crops and livestock in the three years 2000 to 2002.

The "historic" subsidies will be phased out, starting at 90 per cent of the annual payment in 2005 and winding down to zero in 2012, while the area payment is phased in, contributing 10 per cent in 2005 and rising to 100 per cent in 2012.

The much less productive areas of moorland and upland in England are defined by Defra as Severely Disadvantaged Areas (SDAs). They will attract a much lower rate of annual payment of rather less than one third of the rest of the country - around £67 per hectare instead of £216. In Worcestershire, there are no areas defined as SDAs.

Lumping together all moorlands and uplands is strongly resented as unfairly penalising the more productive upland farmers. The CLA, together with the National Sheep Association and others, are pressing for an extra band for payment so that moorland would attract £30 to £40 per hectare, upland £110 to £148 and lowland £216 per ha.

Nick Way said, "The Government must soon get down to consultation on the conditions of cross compliance that must be met for the single farm payment to be made.

"Will the rules be light or heavy? The Treasury favour heavy, but we want to see it light. There are already 18 existing EC directives on public and animal health and animal welfare, which have been introduced over three years!

"How will the maintenance of good agricultural and environmental conditions be assessed? One could look at the well-being of the soil, freedom from erosion, a good structure and level of organic matter and also observe the well-being of wildlife."

Laura Coode said: "The single farm payment sets out to be simple, but there are many points of confusion.

"For example, with short-term grazing lets, the claimant must have possession of the lands for at lest ten months of the year, starting from a date not earlier than September 1 of the previous year. It looks as though neither the tenant nor the letter will be eligible to claim!

"We are hearing many queries about this, including a number from auctioneers. Defra is being tardy, but we hope for approval of a later starting date, also for some flexibility allowing a window of opportunity.

"With farm business tenancies long-term lets are the most straightforward. At the end, could the tenant leave and take the entitlement to the annual payment?

"Short-term lets can lead to questions over the disposal at the end.

"And farmers are still keen to buy and sell despite the uncertainties. Where there are partnerships and contracts there will arise problems of fall-outs.

"There is continuing uncertainty. It is difficult to get definitions or decisions out of Defra. Their drafts change from week to week, like mercury quicksilver in your hands!"