By Andrew Arbuckle, farming editor

LESS THAN a week into a new agricultural regime that has been called one of the most radical in recent history, one of the architects of this change yesterday warned the farming industry that further massive changes are on the way.

For good measure, Lord Whitty, UK Minister for Food and Farming, also told 500 delegates attending the annual Oxford Farming Conference that he was fully supportive of the public disclosure of the subsidies individual farmers receive.

On CAP reform, he stated there would be pressure for more money to move from farm support into environmental objectives and for the elimination of remaining quotas, including those around the dairy sector.

He would have liked a period of stability as the new common agricultural policy bedded itself in, but warned further “fundamental chan-ges were on the horizon.”

Lord Whitty then questioned the long-term viability of the Scottish system, where the new subsidy payment is based totally on the amount of support previously received.

This “historic basis” for payment could be under pressure from the World Trade Organisation as it moves to further remove production subsidies, he indicated.

The reform of the CAP allowed the various member states of the EU to decide which support system they would use.

In England, they are moving towards the subsidy being paid totally on an acreage basis.

Cash coming on to farms by that route would be allowable even under a further loosening of trade regulations by the World Trade Organisation, he said, but any scheme using commodity support as a basis for the single farm payment may run into difficulty.

When questioned as to whether his department, DEFRA, was now actively pressurising devolved areas to follow the English example, Lord Whitty admitted it was a delicate area for him to comment on.

Ministers in devolved areas made their own decisions, he stated. He predicted, however, that within four or five years there would be a far greater percentage of European agriculture using the acreage basis for payment.

Anyone questioning Lord Whitty’s credentials for making such a statement might remember that long before the official statement was made, he revealed the English subsidy system.

Although, he did not state it yesterday, the bookmakers have his Government as odds on favourites to still be in charge after the next general election.

All of this adds weight to his further predictions.

“I have personally always been uncomfortable that individual subsidy payments under CAP are not subject to public disclosure,” he said.

This already happens in Denmark and while historically there may have been some reason for not listing all the individual commodity payments to farmers, there would be no similar excuse with the single farm payment.

“No decision has been made on this but I will be recommending that, in relation to SFP, details will be subject to disclosure.”

Now that the Freedom of Information Act is in place, he said publication of individual subsidies would not be a Government decision but would rest with the commissioner of that body.

He warned, “The Freedom of Information Act applies retrospectively and it is possible that the commissioner or the courts will deem historic information also to be disclosable.”

There was a considerable intake of breath at this moment from an audience including some of the largest landowners—and therefore subsidy recipients—in the country.

Lord Whitty then said he was at odds with some of his political colleagues who have publicly suggested some 20% of the subsidy cash paid to the biggest recipients should be siphoned off and used as development aid. This would unfairly punish UK agriculture and he would not be in favour of it.

Throughout his speech he made it clear that farming had the opportunity to move ahead in the freer market, but he showed little patience with any questioner who expressed worries about the shift towards environmental projects or who complained about restrictions placed on the industry.

“I have heard some farmers complain that ‘the environmentalists have won,’ but the delivery of economic benefits is the new deal for European farming in exchange for the continued support of the rest of society.

“In terms of public support, attaching subsidy to environmental outcomes is the only show in town that cuts any ice with the rest of the population.”

He also brushed aside any questions on the planned ban on fox hunting in England, stating that parliament had made the decision.

In coming into the conference, Lord Whitty ran into a posse of Countryside Alliance supporters who disagreed with the Government view, but a police presence allowed him to enter the conference hall.